Highland Park parade shooting suspect indicted on 117 felony counts

The man accused of opening fireplace on an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago has been indicted by a grand jury on 21 first-degree homicide counts, 48 counts of tried homicide and 48 counts of aggravated battery

Prosecutors beforehand filed seven homicide fees towards Robert E. Crimo III. They introduced the grand jury’s resolution to indict him on 117 felony fees on Wednesday.

Attorneys for the suspect haven’t made a proper response but to any of the fees he faces within the July Fourth shooting that killed seven individuals, wounded greater than 30, and despatched spectators fleeing the parade route in downtown Highland Park, Illinois.

Prosecutors have stated the 21-year-old suspect admitted to the shooting when police arrested him following an hours lengthy search on July 4.

Under Illinois legislation, prosecutors can ask a grand jury to find out whether or not there’s possible trigger to proceed to trial. Grand jury proceedings aren’t open to the general public and protection attorneys can not cross-examine witnesses.

Authorities have stated the wounded vary in age from 8 to their 80s, together with an 8-year-old boy who was paralyzed from the waist down when the shooting severed his backbone.

During a court docket listening to presenting the homicide fees, Lake County prosecutors stated police discovered greater than 80 spent shell casings on the rooftop of a constructing alongside the parade route and the semi-automatic rifle used within the assault on the bottom close by.

Investigators consider the accused gunman blended in with the fleeing crowd to get away from the scene, then borrowed his mom’s automotive and briefly contemplated a second assault on a celebration in Madison, Wisconsin, earlier than returning to Illinois the place police arrested him.

Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Chris Covelli informed reporters earlier this month that the suspect purchased the high-powered rifle used within the assault legally in Illinois and that he “pre-planned this attack for several weeks.”

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering informed “CBS Mornings” earlier this month that she knew the suspect when he was a boy.

“I was his Cub Scout pack leader,” she stated. “… My heart breaks for everybody in this town. I’m not sure what happened to him to compel him to commit this kind of evil in his hometown, but we have a city that is in deep mourning today, and we are going to take a long time to heal from all of this.”