Alleged shooter ordered held without bail

A Lake County judge ordered Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III, accused of carrying out the rooftop massacre at Highland Park’s Independence Day parade, held without bond as his prosecution on seven counts of first degree murder begins.

Calling Crimo a “threat to the community,” Judge Theodore Potkonjak ordered him to remain in jail. Crimo’s next hearing is set for July 28.

Prosecutor Ben Dillon said Crimo, a 21-year-old who grew up in the normally tranquil Chicago suburb, admitted to police that he “looked down his sights, aimed and opened fire at people across the street” from a perch atop a building on the corner of Central Avenue and 2nd Street.

Dillon said police found 83 spent shell casings on the rooftop. Officers recovered a Smith and Wesson M&P 15 semi-automatic rifle in an alley behind the building that surveillance video showed Crimo dropping as he fled, Dillon said.

Crimo, watching the Zoom hearing without expression via videolink from the Lake County Jail, wore a black shirt and sported dark, jaw-length hair. His only comment was to tell Potkonjak that he did not have a lawyer.

Private attorney Tom Durkin, who had agreed to represent Crimo, told Potkonjak he had to step aside because of an unspecified conflict of interest in the case. Crimo will be represented by the county public defender going forward.

Crimo planned the parade attack for weeks, police and prosecutors allege, then climbed a fire escape ladder to the roof of a building and fired a high-powered rifle he had purchased legally as Monday’s parade was in full swing. He put makeup over his distinctive tattoos and wore women’s clothing to evade detection, Dillon said.

Crimo was apprehended late Monday afternoon following an hourslong search involving more than 100 law enforcement agencies.

[ What we know about the mass shooting at a Highland Park Fourth of July parade ]

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Victims of the shooting rampage include Highland Park couple Irina and Kevin McCarthy, whose 2-year-old son Aiden was found wandering alone amid the chaos; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn “Jacki” Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88, all of Highland Park; and Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, of Morelos, Mexico.

Another victim was identified Wednesday as Eduardo Uvaldo of Waukegan.

The Cook County Medical Examiner confirmed Uvaldo, 69, was pronounced dead at 7:47 a.m. Wednesday at Evanston Hospital after being injured by gunfire.

The organizer of an online fundraiser on Uvaldo’s behalf posted Tuesday: “We just received news that there is nothing left to do for our papi. Thank you for all the donations thus far. All further donations will go towards assisting my grandmas needs when the time comes.”

Nivia Guzman also posted that her grandfather was “a kind, loving, and funny man who did not deserve this.”

About two dozen people were injured during the attack.

Check back for more details.