Police in Highland Park on Tuesday said the suspect who opened fire from a rooftop onto an Independence Day parade, leaving seven people dead and dozens injured, seems to have planned the attack - but have so far found no motive.
A spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriffs office said 21-year-old Robert E. Crimo III legally purchased the rifle, fired more than 70 rounds into the crowd below, and disguised himself in women's clothing to flee.
Deputy Chief Chris Covelli:
"Following the attack, Crimo exited the roof. He dropped his rifle and he blended in with the crowd and he escaped. He walked to his mother's home who lived in the area and he blended right in with everybody else as they were running around, almost as he was an innocent spectator as well."
Police arrested Crimo hours after the shooting.
Prosecutors on Tuesday charged him with seven counts of first-degree murder, with more charges expected.
Social media and other online posts written by accounts that appeared to be associated with either Crimo or his rapper alias, Awake The Rapper, often depicted violent images or messages.
The accounts showed a man with physical characteristics and facial tattoos similar to those in photos of the suspect released by police.
One music video posted to YouTube under Awake The Rapper, for example, showed drawings of a stick figure holding a rifle in front of another figure spread on the ground.
Highland Park is a heavily Jewish suburb, but police said they had no evidence the shooter was motivated by any particular bias.
COVELLI: "The shooting random shooting appears to be completely random. (Question off camera: Did you think he chose this community because of the population of Jewish people? I know people are concerned that it was an anti-semitic attack.)We have no information to suggest at this point it was racially motivated, motivated by religion or any other protected status."
The July 4th attack turned a civic gathering into chaos as onlookers ran for cover.
Six people were pronounced dead the day of the attack.
Police on Tuesday said a seventh victim died from their injuries.
