Highland Park shooting: Suspect charged with 7 counts of 1st-degree murder – National | Globalnews.ca

The man accused of opening fire with a rifle from a rooftop onto a crowd of people watching a July Fourth parade near Chicago, turning the holiday celebration into another national tragedy, was charged on Tuesday with seven counts of first-degree murder.

If convicted, the suspect, 21-year-old Robert E. Crimo III, would face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted, Illinois states attorney Eric Reinhard said in announcing the charges at a news conference.

The prosecutor said the first-degree charges were be followed by dozens of additional charges before the investigation is over, and that he would ask that Crimo remain held in custody without bail at the suspect’s first court appearance on Wednesday.

Authorities said Crimo had planned the attack for weeks and had come to authorities’ attention at least twice before on reports that he threatened suicide or harm to others, local officials said on Tuesday.

Authorities said the suspect fired more than 70 rounds from a rooftop at random onto people watching Monday’s parade in Highland Park, Illinois, and then made his getaway dressed in a disguise to blend in with the panic-stricken crowd, authorities said on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Tom Polansek; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh, Jonathan Allen, Tyler Clifford, Christopher Gallagher, Christopher Walljasper and Doina Chiacu; Writing by Jonathan Allen and Steve Gorman; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Bill Berkrot)

0:46
Police name person of interest in 4th of July parade shooting in Illinois