A judge ruled that Highland Park shooting suspect Robert Crimo III would remain in jail on Wednesday during a court appearance in Lake County, Illinois.
The state filed a written petition for no bail and said they would seek a conviction with a sentence of life in prison. Lake County Bond Court Judge Theodore Potkonjak ordered Crimo to be held without bond.
“The judge ruled he would be held without bond and there is probable cause to hold him at this time for seven counts of first-degree murder,” Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart told reporters outside Lake County courthouse after the hearing.
“Based on the information that the investigation has produced so far, the judge found that the evidence was such a level that he would be held without bond also because of the fact that it is a mandatory life sentence,” he added.
Additional details were developed during Crimo’s bond hearing.
Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon outlined the events on July 4, stating that surveillance video from the scene showed a person running west with a black bag over the shoulder in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. As he was running, an object wrapped in cloth fell onto the pavement. The suspect left the object and kept running. The object was recovered and identified as a Smith & Wesson M&P15 — an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle — with one round in the chamber, but no magazine inserted, Dillion said.
Crimo provided investigators with a voluntary statement confessing to his actions and identified himself on still images as the person fleeing the scene when the rifle fell out of the bag, according to Dillon.
Dillon added that Crimo told law enforcement he “looked down his sights, aimed and opened fire” on paradegoers and fired two full magazines before putting in a third in a rifle. Crimo continued to fire before fleeing the rooftop, Dillon said. Three 30-round magazines and 83 spent shell casings were recovered, he said.
Crimo also said that he dressed up as a woman and covered his tattoos with makeup to avoid being recognized, according to the prosecutor.
The judge scheduled the next hearing in Crimo’s case for July 28.