Lawsuits accuse state police of neglect, enabling alleged Highland Park shooter to obtain gun

A group of survivors and relatives of those wounded or killed in the Highland Park parade shooting has accused the Illinois State Police of negligence in a flurry of lawsuits, claiming the agency allowed shooting suspect Robert Crimo III to obtain a gun.

The complaints, filed in late June and early July with the Illinois Court of Claims, allege that the state police were aware that Crimo posed a danger to public safety and did not follow its own procedures when it approved Crimo’s firearm owner’s identification card application. The first complaint, filed June 27, represents a group of surviving relatives of Eduardo Uvaldo, one of the seven killed, and others who were wounded or present at the parade. Each claimant is seeking almost $2.5 million.

“The atrocity carried out by Robert Crimo III was predictable and preventable if only the Illinois State Police and its Firearm Services Bureau had followed their internal regulations, rules, laws and code provisions that applied to dangerous individuals like Robert Crimo III,” the complaint reads.

Crimo is accused of climbing to the top of a store in downtown Highland Park during the July 4, 2022, parade and opening fire with a high-powered rifle on the crowd. He faces seven counts of murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery, one for each victim injured in the shooting.

Multiple victims have filed civil suits over the shooting. About 60 plaintiffs have joined a suit against Crimo III, his father, gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson and gun retail shops that helped Crimo III get his guns. The attorneys who filed the claim against the ISP are also representing Uvaldo’s family in a lawsuit against the manufacturer of the assault rifle used in the attack.

The state police, which issues FOID cards, has previously said there were no records on file that would have raised red flags on Crimo III.

The complaint outlines his alleged threat “to kill his entire family” in September 2019, which prompted the Highland Park Police Department to fill out “clear and present danger” paperwork meant to prevent him from accessing weapons.

State police policy requires the agency to keep “clear and present danger” forms in a database for up to six months following submission, according to the complaint. In December 2019, two months after Highland Park police submitted clear and present danger paperwork about Crimo, he applied for a FOID card and misrepresented his history with drug use and clear and present danger status on the application, the complaint states.

Crimo III’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., sponsored him for the FOID application, pled guilty to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct following the shooting and was sentenced to 60 days behind bars in late 2023.

Attorney Matthew Sims said in a statement that ISP had the information it needed to prevent Crimo III from obtaining weapons.

“This red flag should have been maintained and used to deny the Shooter a FOID just weeks later,” he said. “Instead, it appears the State Police did nothing with it.”

Crimo III’s FOID card was issued in January 2020 and he purchased the weapon he allegedly used in the parade shooting in February 2020, according to the complaint.

The other four complaints, filed by attorneys from the law firms Romanucci Blandin and Levin & Perconti on July 2, make nearly identical allegations of neglect against the state police. The cases represent another group of people present or wounded at the parade, including survivors of two others killed: Jacqueline Sundheim and Nicholas Toledo. Claimants in the four more recent cases are asking for a court-determined award of monetary damages.

A representative for the Illinois State Police said the agency was not able to comment on pending litigation.

None of the cases have a hearing date set, according to a spokesperson with the Illinois secretary of state’s office. The cases will be assigned to a Court of Claims commissioner within 60 days of filing. For Court of Claims cases, Attorney General Kwame Raoul represents the state agency named in a claim and helps that agency file a response before a hearing is scheduled.

Crimo III is set to stand trial in February 2025. He recently rejected a plea deal that would have put him in prison for life.