This, as a criminal investigation is planned into any culpability he may have in this tragedy. Crimo Jr. described the whole situation as a nightmare, saying the family is equally shocked because they believe their son was raised with good morals. “You know, I’m just in turmoil. From everything. Emotions. I mean, it’s just. It’s numb and I don’t know how else to explain it. Like I’m in a bad dream right now,” she said. . Crimo Jr. said he never expected this from his son, who is now in custody accused of massacring July 4th parades in Highland Park … killing 7. “As a father, I pretty much lost a son,” Crimo Jr. said. He spoke publicly for the first time in an exclusive phone interview with ABC News.
Listen to the full interview
Crimo Jr., a 2018 Highland Park mayoral candidate, said he had spoken with his son the night before the shooting. “Thirteen hours earlier, I spent almost an hour with them sitting in the yard talking about the planet and the atmosphere and nothing. Great mood. I’m just shocked,” Crimo Jr. said. “I think three days before the fourth, my wife had asked him, ‘Hey, do you have plans for the fourth?’ And he just said “no”. SEE ALSO | ‘It’s not the parent’s fault’: Parents of accused Highland Park shooter ‘distraught’, lawyer says Crimo Jr. said he does not know the motive behind his son’s actions. “That’s what I’d like to ask him when I see him. That’s where I mean, this kind of definitive act is a senseless act of violence. There’s no need,” Crimo Jr. said. When asked if he feels guilty for standing up for his son for a FOID card after several incidents that raised red flags with the police, he said, “Guilty. No, he did it all on his own.” He said he doesn’t regret helping his son get a FOID card because he followed the law. “You know, he went through the legal process. I don’t know if he’s guilty. I feel horrible about what happened. Beyond horrible,” Crimo Jr. added. However, he did not get a FOID card on his own. To get through the legal process for possessing a gun at 19, Crimo III needed a sponsor, making sure he wasn’t a threat. “I filled out the consent form to allow my son to go through the process that the Illinois State Police has in place to obtain a FOID card for a person. That’s it, a consent form to allow my son to go through Kanun background checks,” Cirmo Jr. said. Illinois State Police are now investigating Crimo Jr and his guilt in signing the consent form for his son. “It will be up to the courts and this process to decide what was appropriate and what was not appropriate in this circumstance,” ISP director Brendan Kelly said Wednesday. The father downplayed his son’s 2019 threats to kill others, likening it to a childish tantrum. He said that didn’t change his mind about his son owning a gun, leaving it to the vetting process. “Well, that’s all it was…a consent form to allow my son to go through the process. They do background checks. Whatever that entails, I’m not exactly sure. And you’re either approved or denied. And that was approved before, right before 2021,” Crimo Jr. said. Crimo Jr. he said his son bought the guns himself and registered them in his name.
WATCH: Could Father of Suspected Parade Killer Face Charges?
Meanwhile, the father said he hasn’t stopped thinking about the victims since the shooting. “My heart goes out to them. I can only imagine losing a family member in a parade or a child that doesn’t have their parents? It’s horrible,” Crimo Jr. said. Crimo Jr. he also vehemently denied rumors that his son suffered from abuse at home. He also wasn’t concerned about his son’s past social media posts, saying he hadn’t seen all of them and thought they were about his music. “I love my son, but it’s devastating for everyone involved. Whoever it was, who died, was injured, was traumatized, hearing the gunshots — there were young children. It’s a horrible act. I would never want to see this happen and again. That’s why we have to do something about it. I think the whole system needs to be overhauled,” Crimo Jr. said. As this community works to heal, ABC7 has learned police have been called to Crimo’s home multiple times since 2002 for domestic incidents. Few implicate the suspected shooter. ABC News contributed to this report. Copyright © 2022 WLS-TV. All rights reserved.
