Feds found "bomb-making materials" in Highland Park suspect's home after shooting massacre
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Federal agents found "bomb-making materials" in the home of Highland Park mass shooting suspect Robert Crimo III just hours after seven people were killed and dozens more were wounded during last year's July 4th parade.
As CBS 2's Marissa Perlman reported Thursday night, a 31-page affidavit from a federal search warrant unsealed on Thursday contains chilling details about what Crimo had in his home – and even a possible motive.
According to the federal search warrant, FBI agents searched Crimo's father's Highwood home and the back apartment where Crimo was living. During the search about six hours after the shooting, FBI agents found electronic components, including a remote initiator; two plastic jugs with ammunition attached to the outside; and two boxes of Tannerite, a legally marketed binary explosive used for exploding targets in firearms practice.
Invoices found on Crimo's phone show he had ordered a 10-pound shipment of Tannerite one month before the attack.
The federal search warrant also said Crimo admitted to making explosive devices years before the massacre by learning about it online.
When later questioned by investigators, Crimo said he had considered planting explosives as part of his deadly attack on the parade in Highland Park, but didn't.
"If everything lined up correctly then I would use it, but it didn't," Crimo said, according to an FBI agent's affidavit.
22M558 Sealed Application Subject Device C by Todd Feurer on Scribd
Crimo told investigators the explosives would have been too heavy for him to carry to the parade, "but he considered using them if the opportunity arose," the affidavit states.
"It [an improvised explosive device] could have been used for an incident, it could have been used but it wasn't." Crimo told investigators, according to the affidavit. "It could have been planted if it worked, in theory it could have been planted . . . somewhere where it could cause harm. … If it worked, I might have planted it early, or I might have just sat down, left the bag there, and walked away."
Investigators also found a destroyed Macbook with the symbol, "Are you awake?" on its cover. During the interview, Crimo said the symbol means "peace and balance."
As for a motive for the shooting, FBI affidavits state Crimo claimed he carried out the shooting "in order to 'wake people up,' and had 'awake' tattooed onto his face."
22M528 Sealed Application by Todd Feurer on Scribd
After opening fire on the parade at around 10:10 a.m., killing seven people and wounding dozens more, Crimo ran to his mother's house, where he got into a vehicle, and drove to his father's house, according to the affidavit. He then drove to nearby Northbrook before heading to Madison, Wisconsin.
The feds were able to use his cell phone data to track him to Wisconsin, where he buried his phone before returning to Illinois, where he was arrested in North Chicago around 6:25 p.m., according to the affidavit.
Crimo has been indicted 117 felony counts in Lake County; including murder, attempted murder, and aggravated battery. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail. He is not facing any federal charges.
His father, Robert Crimo Jr., is facing seven felony charges of reckless conduct. He is accused of sponsoring his son's Firearm Owner's Identification card application just three months after a September 2019 incident in which police were called to the family's home, because the younger Crimo was threatening to "kill everyone" with a collection of knives and swords. The elder Crimo has pleaded not guilty and is free on bond.
The Lake County State's Attorney's office said it had no advance knowledge the feds would release the information Thursday and would not comment. They also went n to say they try to make sure the victims and their families have information like this before the general public.