There were multiple mass shootings in America on July 4, including an attempted one in Philadelphia that sent crowds racing to safety. But the deadliest occurred in Highland Park, a suburb north of Chicago. Seven people were killed and 30 injured, with the shooter escaping the scene. Robert Crimo, 21, was later apprehended and has now been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. But new details suggest his actions could have been thwarted had there been stricter gun laws.
As per The Guardian, police first encountered Crimo back in April of 2019, after a suicide attempt. In September of that same year, one of his relatives called police after Crimo threatened to “kill everyone” in his family home. As a result, a police taskforce confiscated several weapons: 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword.
And yet four years later, Crimo was still able to legally obtain five guns, including the high-powered rifle he used to snipe at crowds at an Independence Day parade from atop a building. (Highland Park outlaws assault-style weapons within city limits, but officials don’t always enforce such rules.)
Police report that Crimo had been planning the massacre for weeks, even posting dozens of violent videos. One featured him reading, “Everything has led up to this. Nothing can stop me, even myself.”
The Highland Park mass shooting has so far followed the usual trajectory of such tragedies. Survivors and local leaders call on something, anything to be done, while far right second amendment absolutists tweet nonsense, knowing it won’t.
(Via The Guardian)