Man accused of killing 7 in Chicago-area July 4th parade shooting pleads not guilty
Global News
The accused gunman, Robert E. Crimo III, appeared for a brief hearing Wednesday in Lake County's circuit court to enter a formal plea to the charges
The man accused of killing seven people and wounding dozens more in a shooting at an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, a week after prosecutors announced he faces 117 felony counts in the attack.
Robert E. Crimo III appeared for a brief hearing Wednesday in Lake County’s circuit court to enter a formal plea to the charges — 21 counts of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery representing those killed and wounded during the parade in Highland Park.
Crimo wore a COVID-19 face mask throughout the 10-minute arraignment and repeatedly told Judge Victoria Rossetti that he understood the charges and potential penalties he faces, including life imprisonment. As Crimo shuffled into court, chains around his ankles jangling, several relatives and friends of at least one victim turned to look at him from across the room, some keeping their eyes fixed on him throughout hearing.
Lake County prosecutors in late July announced that a grand jury had indicted Crimo on the charges. The prosecutors had previously filed seven murder charges against the 21-year-old in the days following the shooting.
The multiple first-degree murder charges allege Crimo intended to kill, caused death or great bodily harm and took action with a strong probability of causing death or great bodily harm on the seven people who died.
A representative for the county public defenders office, which is representing Crimo, has said the office does not comment publicly on any cases. An attorney with the office entered Crimo’s not guilty plea during Wednesday’s court appearance.
Prosecutors have said Crimo admitted to the shooting once police arrested him following a hourslong search for the gunman who opened fire from the rooftop of a building along the parade route.
Authorities have said the wounded range in age from 8 to their 80s, including an 8-year-old boy who was paralyzed from the waist down when the shooting severed his spine.
Putin’s endorsement of the new nuclear deterrent policy comes on the 1,000th day after he sent troops into Ukraine, on Feb. 24, 2022.
Nearly 2,200 layoff notices went to workers in Washington and another 220 in South Carolina, the two states where Boeing builds commercial airliners.
The deadly haze covered monuments and high-rise buildings in the capital of New Delhi, with visibility so low that airlines warned of delays.
The death is being investigated by federal authorities but "the preliminary cause" has been ruled an accident.
The incident took place more than a month ago, on October 13, but it wasn't reported until the British tabloids got wind of the story.
Health officials said Saturday they have confirmed the first U.S. case of a new form of mpox that was first seen in eastern Congo.
Washington is easing limits on what Ukraine can strike with U.S.-made weaponry, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range attacks in the coming days, sources said, without revealing details due to operational security concerns.
Concerns storm surges could raise water levels between one and three feet above ground level as Tropical Storm Sara makes landfall in Belize.
Air defenses could be heard engaging drones over Kyiv in the night, and a series of powerful blasts rang out across the city as the missile attack was under way in the morning.
John Kirton, head of the G20 Research Group, says the forum is the main tool countries have to prepare for the second Donald Trump presidency.