US Anniversary Parade Shooting Suspect Buys Five Guns, Rifles And Pistols Legally: Collection Of 16 Knives, Daggers To Swords

Illustration of a gun shop in the United States. (Wikimedia Commons/Thayne Tuason)

JAKARTA - Robert Crimo, a 21-year-old suspect facing seven counts of first-degree murder, after shooting at the US Independence Day parade on July 4, has an unusual collection that has caught the attention of security forces.

Sergeant Chris Covelli, a spokesman for the Lake County Sheriff's Office, said: "Crimo legally purchased five guns, a rifle and a handgun, despite having come to the attention of law enforcement on two previous occasions because of alleged behavior that suggested he might be a danger to himself or others, citing Reuters July 7.

The first example was the April 2019, a 911 emergency call that reported Crimo had attempted suicide, followed in September of that year, by a police visit regarding alleged threats "to kill everyone" that he directed to family members," Covelli said.

Police responding to the second incident confiscated a collection of 16 knives, daggers and swords that Crimo had collected at his home, although no arrests were made because authorities at the time had no possible reason to detain him, Covelli said.

The Crimo evades the protections of Illinois' 'Red Flag' statute, which was designed to prevent people deemed to have violent tendencies from obtaining guns.

State police said the knives were returned to the family at a later date, the day they were confiscated after the father notified authorities they belonged to his son and kept in his son's closet for safekeeping.

Officers at the scene after the Chicago Highland Park shooting. (Wikimedia Commons/Meme Star27)

State police admitted they had received a report from local authorities declaring Crimo a "real and present danger", following alleged threats in September 2019 against his family.

State police said they closed the matter after determining Crimo at the time did not have a gun ID card to revoke or an application to refuse.

None of the 2019 incidents appeared in the four background checks conducted during subsequent firearm purchases, they added.

As previously reported, six people were killed and 36 others injured in a shooting during the US Anniversary parade on the outskirts of Chicago's Highland Park. The police immediately arrested Crimo shortly after the heartbreaking incident occurred.

Crimo appeared at a bond trial via video link from prison, two days after the attack in Highland Park, Illinois. Dressed in black and shoulder-length hair, Judge Theodore Potkonjak rejected Crimo's bail application.

"He did pose, in fact, a specific and present threat to society," the judge explained in ordering that Crimo be detained.

Ben Dillon, a district attorney, told the court the suspect had confessed to the July 4 attacks after he was arrested. No defense entered the trial.

Earlier, President Joe Biden said he and his wife Jill were "shocked by the senseless gun violence that has once again brought sorrow to the American community this Independence Day."