Latest news with #IllinoisAttorneyGeneral'sOffice
Chicago Tribune
21-03-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Lake County leads state in firearm restraining orders; ‘One of the many tools … to make people safer'
Lake County officials Thursday touted their status as a statewide leader in using restraining orders to temporarily remove firearms from people who pose a danger to themselves or others. At a media briefing at the Lake County Courthouse, leaders including State's Attorney Eric Rinehart and Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said the county led Illinois in the number of Firearm Restraining Orders filed per 100,000 residents for 2023 and 2024. An FRO is a civil order issued by a judge that temporarily limits a person's access to guns and related items when law enforcement believes that person poses a threat to themselves or others. Lake County judges granted 46 FROs last year, and local filings have increased by 23 times from 2021, according to local prosecutors. 'These numbers show that we are doing the work in Lake County … to make sure we have a healthy and safe place for everyone here,' Rinehart said. 'The Firearm Restraining Order is one of the many tools that we are all using to make people safer.' Requests for FROs are usually made by local law enforcement officials, who present their case to a judge who then decides whether to grant the order. The orders can be lifted when the person in question shows they are no longer a threat, he said. Rinehart said the county has seen a decrease in the last two years in both firearm-related suicides and homicides, and he believes FROs played a role in the reductions. The Illinois State Police director said the numbers indicate that Lake County is taking the FRO program seriously and is committed to reducing gun violence. 'In every single one of these cases, behind these numbers is an example of something terrible that could have happened, but didn't because a Firearm Restraining Order was filed and action was taken to be able to prevent those things,' Kelly said. Local prosecutors along with the Illinois Attorney General's Office and the ISP regularly lead law enforcement training sessions to acquaint police with the FRO process. Sheriff John Idleburg said his office recently obtained an FRO after a student threatened classmates, including making a video call while holding a shotgun. Officers obtained an FRO to seize the gun, he said. The State's Attorney's Office, along with the Attorney General's Office and the ISP, has expanded training to schools, domestic violence and mental health groups, to raise awareness of the FRO process. Rinehart said there are people within his office, social service agencies and throughout the criminal justice system who act as 'navigators' to help shepherd the restraining orders through the system. Kelly said Lake County's successful model can be adopted statewide.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Yahoo
Trial begins for suspect in Highland Park mass shooting at July Fourth parade
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — Opening statements begin Monday in the trial of the man accused of opening fire at a Fourth of July parade in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park more than two years ago, killing seven people and wounding nearly 50. Robert 'Bobby' E. Crimo III faces 69 counts of murder and attempted murder stemming from the July 4, 2022, mass shooting. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011. Dressed in black, his face tattooed with the number 47 and more tattoos adorning his neck and hands, the 24-year-old was present in the Lake County Courthouse last week while jury selection was underway. From time to time, he watched while his defense attorneys, Lake County Public Defender Gregory Ticsay and Assistant Public Defender Anton Trizna, and the prosecutor, Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart, took turns posing questions to the jury candidates. But mostly Crimo sat scribbling on a sheet of paper as the pool of jurors was narrowed to the six men and six women picked to serve on the panel. Before the first juror was seated, prosecutors moved to dismiss an additional 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm against Crimo. They gave no immediate explanation. And they got no pushback from the defense team or from Lake County Circuit Court Judge Victoria Rossetti. Police said Crimo, an aspiring rapper who used the stage name Awake the Rapper and was described by friends as a music-obsessed loner, spent weeks planning the massacre. On that July Fourth, Crimo climbed up a fire escape to the rooftop of a building above the parade route and, at 10:14 a.m., began raining down bullets onto the spectators below, police said. Killed in the attack were Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35. Dozens more were wounded, the youngest of whom was 8-year-old Cooper Roberts, who was left paralyzed from the waist down when a bullet severed his spinal cord. Also wounded was 63-year-old John Kezdy, who took a bullet to the elbow. Kezdy worked for the Illinois Attorney General's Office and had earlier been the lead singer of Chicago's influential punk rock band The Effigies. He died a year after the attack in a bicycle accident. Crimo disguised himself by wearing women's clothing during the rampage, police said. 'Following the attack, Crimo exited the roof, dropped his rifle, and he blended in with the crowd and escaped,' Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Chris Covelli said at the time. Crimo made it home, took his mother's car and drove north to Madison, Wisconsin, where he considered staging another massacre, police said. He was arrested when he returned to Illinois. 'He went into details about what he had done,' Rinehart told reporters after the incident. 'He admitted to what he had done. We don't want to speculate on the motives right now.' Last June, Crimo was expected to accept a plea deal but surprised the court by suddenly changing his mind and keeping his not-guilty plea. In late 2023, Crimo fired his public defenders, saying he would represent himself at trial. The next month, he asked a judge to reinstate his public defender. Meanwhile, Crimo's father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of reckless conduct and was sentenced to 60 days in prison for agreeing to sponsor his then-19-year-old son's gun license application. He did so even though a relative had reported to police only a few months earlier that Crimo had a collection of knives and had threatened to 'kill everyone.' Prosecutors have turned over some 10,000 pages of evidence along with a videotaped interrogation during which police say Crimo confessed to the mass shooting. In December, Rossetti declined an attempt by Crimo's lawyers to throw out statements Crimo made to police when he was arrested. The judge said Crimo willingly gave up his right to remain silent and police did not prevent him from speaking with the lawyer his family had hired to represent him. Crimo's trial is expected to last three to five weeks. This article was originally published on
NBC News
03-03-2025
- NBC News
Trial begins for suspect in Highland Park mass shooting at July Fourth parade
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — Opening statements begin Monday in the trial of the man accused of opening fire at a Fourth of July parade in the affluent Chicago suburb of Highland Park more than two years ago, killing seven people and wounding nearly 50. Robert 'Bobby' E. Crimo III faces 69 counts of murder and attempted murder stemming from the July 4, 2022, mass shooting. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011. Dressed in black, his face tattooed with the number 47 and more tattoos adorning his neck and hands, Crimo, 24, was present in the Lake County Courthouse last week while jury selection was underway. From time to time, Crimo watched while his defense attorneys, Lake County Public Defender Gregory Ticsay and Assistant Public Defender Anton Trizna, and the prosecutor, Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart, took turns posing questions to the jury candidates. But mostly Crimo sat scribbling on a sheet of paper as the pool of jurors was narrowed to the six men and six women picked to serve on the panel. Before the first juror was seated, prosecutors moved to dismiss an additional 48 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm against Crimo. They gave no immediate explanation. And they got no pushback from Crimo's defense team or from Lake County Circuit Court Judge Victoria Rossetti. Police said Crimo, an aspiring rapper who used the stage name Awake the Rapper and was described by friends as a music-obsessed loner, spent weeks planning the massacre. On that July Fourth, Crimo climbed up a fire escape to the rooftop of a building above the parade route and, at 10:14 a.m., began raining down bullets onto the spectators below, police said. Killed in the attack were Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35. Dozens more were wounded, the youngest of whom was 8-year-old Cooper Roberts, who was left paralyzed from the waist down when a bullet severed his spinal cord. Also wounded was 63-year-old John Kezdy, who took a bullet to the elbow. Kezdy worked for the Illinois Attorney General's Office and had earlier been the lead singer of Chicago's influential punk rock band The Effigies. He died a year after the attack in a bicycle accident. Crimo disguised himself by wearing women's clothing during the rampage, police said. 'Following the attack, Crimo exited the roof, dropped his rifle, and he blended in with the crowd and escaped,' Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Chris Covelli said at the time. Crimo made it home, took his mother's car and drove north to Madison, Wisconsin, where he considered staging another massacre, police said. He was arrested when he returned to Illinois. 'He went into details about what he had done,' Rinehart told reporters after the incident. 'He admitted to what he had done. We don't want to speculate on the motives right now.' Last June, Crimo was expected to accept a plea deal but surprised the court by suddenly changing his mind and keeping his not-guilty plea. In late 2023, Crimo fired his public defenders, saying he would represent himself at trial. The next month, he asked a judge to reinstate his public defender. Meanwhile, Crimo's father, Robert Crimo Jr., pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of reckless conduct and was sentenced to 60 days in prison for agreeing to sponsor his then-19-year-old son's gun license application. He did so even though a relative had reported to police only a few months earlier that Crimo had a collection of knives and had threatened to 'kill everyone.' Prosecutors have turned over some 10,000 pages of evidence along with a videotaped interrogation during which police say Crimo confessed to the mass shooting. In December, Rossetti declined an attempt by Crimo's lawyers to throw out statements Crimo made to police when he was arrested. The judge said Crimo willingly gave up his right to remain silent and police did not prevent him from speaking with the lawyer his family had hired to represent him.
