CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey investigates this part of the investigation. Highland Park gunman gets FOID card despite previous encounters with police 1:50 a.m The suspect was armed with two high-powered rifles that day, authorities said. one found at the scene and a second discovered in his mother’s borrowed car he was driving when he was arrested. Police also found at least three other firearms in his Highwood home, including handguns and possibly a shotgun. All of those firearms were legally purchased in the Chicagoland area, according to investigators. The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Bobby Crimo had a valid FOID card as of 2020, which would make him about 18 or 19 years old — the earliest you can apply for a FOID card in the state of Illinois. In 2019, police said a family member reported that Crimo was exhibiting related behavior. “Crimo said he was going to kill everyone and Crimo had a collection of knives. Police responded to his residence. Police removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from Crimo’s home. At that time, there was no probable cause There have been no complaints filed by any of the victims,” said Chris Covelli, spokesman for the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force. But the Illinois State Police were alerted to this incident. When asked how Crimo was still able to successfully apply for a FOID card – this was the response from the ISP. “He didn’t have an application pending (at the time of the 2019 incident), so there was nothing to look at at that time when we got that notification. We didn’t know until a few months later that something else was going to happen,” said Illinois State Police Sgt. . Delilah Garcia The high-powered rifle recovered at the scene fired “natural, high-velocity rounds” similar to an AR-15, investigators said. Police on Tuesday said about 45 people were shot, seven of whom were killed. The city of Highland Park passed an assault weapons ban in 2013, which was legally challenged — all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which eventually heard the case, allowing the ban to remain in place. “If banning semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines reduces the perceived risk of a mass shooting and makes the public feel safer as a result, that is a significant benefit,” the Supreme Court ruling said. The ban regulates the “possession or possession of assault weapons” in the city, but says nothing about regulations or anything about people bringing guns in from outside the cities — like Highwood, where Crimo lives. The ban carries a prison sentence of up to 6 months or fines for violations of the ordinance. There are still many questions about how the shooter was able to carry the gun down the parade route undetected. Investigators said the women’s clothing he was wearing may have helped him conceal them, but they are still investigating those details.
