The parents of accused Highland Park, Illinois, shooter Robert ‘Bobby’ Crimo III were “trouble” and always the last to pick him up from his after-school sports program, the suspect’s former coach told Fox News Digital. “I remember the parents more than him because they were kind of a problem,” recalled Jeremy Cahnmann, who ran an after-school program at Lincoln Elementary School. “There wasn’t a lot of love in that family.” The 21-year-old accused gunman is in police custody after he allegedly opened fire on revelers at the Highland Park Fourth of July parade, killing at least six people and injuring more than 36. Crimo was 9 or 10 years old when he enrolled in Cahnmann’s Nerf football program, along with his younger brother. “Every week, the Crimos were the last kids there and we’d have to call their parents to pick them up,” the former coach said, speaking of Crimo’s dad, Bob Crimo, 58, and his mom, Denise Pesina , 48 years old. . SUSPECT ARRESTED IN ILLINOIS FOURTH OF JULY PARADE SHOOTINGS THAT KILLED 6 PEOPLE “The kid was very quiet, very gentle, never caused any trouble,” added Cahnmann, who now runs the Chicago-based company Brain Bash Trivia. A combination of photos of the parents of the alleged 4th of July shooter, Bob Crimo and Denise Pesina. (Facebook) But Pesina was a handful, he said. “He came in one time with one of the heads of the program, he was yelling,” he recalls. “It seemed like her kids were bothering her.” The accused shooter, an aspiring rapper, grew up with his parents, younger brother and older sister on McDaniels Avenue in Highland Park, outside Chicago. Under the stage name “Awake the Rapper,” Crimo released a disturbing music video in 2021 that featured drawings of a stick figure wearing tactical gear carrying out an attack with a rifle and a newspaper clipping about Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated John F. Kennedy. A composite photo of alleged July 4th parade shooter Robert Crimo III (right) and his mom Denise Pesina. (Facebook/FBI) “The signs were there for a long time,” said a neighbor of Crimo’s. “There were always police cars at the house. The parents were arguing, fighting all the time.” HIGHLAND PARK 4TH OF JULY SCOTTISH PERSON OF INTEREST: WHO IS ROBERT CRIMO? Pessina is a self-proclaimed energy healer with her company called Trilogy Energy Systems, according to her Facebook page. His father once ran for mayor and owned a local sandwich shop, Bob’s Pantry and Deli, which has since closed. The home on McDaniels Avenue where alleged gunman Robert Crimo III grew up with his family in Highland Park. (Google Maps) “He was so nice, always giving the kids free candy and treats,” the neighbor said. The mom seemed unstable while the father was well-liked in the community, locals told Fox News Digital.
At the time of the shooting, the younger Crimo lived with his father and uncle in a house in nearby Highwood Park. Neighbors said Pessina still lived in the Highland Park home, which had become an eyesore in the upscale suburb. Robert Crimo III, 22, was taken into custody after a brief car chase. (Catherine Rappel) “I walk by the house every day, it looks like it should be condemned,” said one local. “The landscaping is seven feet tall. I was thinking to myself the other day, we should really do a welfare check.” Kahnman said he was stunned to learn of the mass shooting. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I’m shocked,” Kahnman said. “Obviously these things can happen anywhere and anytime, but Highland Park is a very affluent suburb where you don’t think things like this are going to happen.” Rebecca Rosenberg is a veteran journalist and author focusing on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to [email protected] and @ReRosenberg.