Highland Park parade gunman gets life sentence for 2022 mass shooting

The gunman who pleaded guilty to a mass shooting at a has been to life in prison.

Robert E. Crimo III received seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for each person killed in the deadly holiday attack. He also received an additional 50-year sentence for each of the 48 attempted murder charges, which will be served concurrently.

He had been charged with 21 counts of murder — three counts for each person killed.

"This court has absolutely no words that could capture the pain and horror of that July 4th," Judge Victoria Rossetti said as she announced the sentencing decision.

The 24-year-old Crimo had changed his plea to guilty last month in the shooting that left seven people dead and more than 40 injured. , which came just moments before opening statements at his trial, was a shock to many -- including his own attorneys -- even after years of unpredictable legal proceedings.

Though he was not in court during his sentencing hearing Wednesday -- and he did not watch the proceedings from jail -- survivors and loved ones of those killed in the shared their stories at the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan.

Rossetti said she warned Crimo, who was in the Lake County jail, that the case and sentencing would go on with or without him. His attorney was present.

Prosecutors showcased evidence that would have been used in his trial, including testimony from survivors, relatives of those killed and other witnesses on the rescue of a  and a “post-apocalyptic scene” of bodies in the street and bullet-ridden lawn chairs and strollers.

“It went from watching a parade to utter chaos,” testified Dana Ruder Ring, who attended the parade with her husband and three kids. “We just had to keep going. We just knew that staying still was not a safe idea and we were terrified.”

Her husband frantically searched for the parents of a child who was covered in blood while seeing “bodies still smoking on the ground,” Ruder Ring said.

She learned later that the boy’s parents, Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35, had been killed.

Prosecutors also played parts of a , which defense attorneys had tried to throw out during earlier proceedings. In the video, a blank-faced Crimo wearing all black is slumped back in a chair, his arms crossed. He said he briefly reconsidered because of a problem with the gun, but he fixed it.

“I walked up the stairs, jumped on the roof and opened fire,” he said. He said he tried to avoid children, but it was unavoidable because of the “mesh of people” below.

He was calm and cavalier while being questioned, and even laughed and made jokes, according to Brian Bodden, a Highland Park police officer.

“He was never serious, no remorse,” Bodden testified. He said the shooting had been planned since about 2017.

“His intentions were to shoot at people, to kill people,” Bodden said.

When Bodden asked Crimo why he attacked the parade, he gave a cryptic answer about being a sleepwalker and added: “I don’t even think I really wanted to.”

Throughout the hearing, prosecutors recreated the horror of the day along with showing detailed perspectives of the aftermath.

In one video, a marching band played “You're a Grand Old Flag” before shots were fired. Musicians carrying instruments ran as emergency sirens blared and crowds quickly dispersed.

Many cried during the testimony, while others put their arms around each other. Boxes of tissues were spread throughout the room.

Retired Highland Park Police Commander Gerry Cameron, who was on duty the day of the parade, testified he ran toward what sounded like fireworks or a car backfiring and saw people hurt and others running in panic. He described clearing people who were hiding in businesses nearby.

“They were reluctant to come out. They were reluctant to come to the door,” he said. “They were horrified.”

Crimo fired from a roof, leaving behind 83 shell casings, authorities said.

Crimo, including the McCarthys; Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; and Eduardo Uvaldo, 69. The youngest person wounded was 8-year-old , who .

Emergency room Dr. Jeremy Smiley escaped the parade while carrying his daughter, got his family to safety and went to the hospital.

“The number of shots, it was just clear that whatever this was, it was going to be bad,” he said in court.

He described caring for Cooper as injured people filled emergency room beds and lined the hallways. At the same time, doctors kept showing up to help.

Meanwhile, authorities, including FBI special agent Marc Recca, collected evidence in the deserted downtown. Piles of strollers and lawn chairs were left behind. Bodies were covered in blue tarps.

“It was pretty eerie, almost post-apocalyptic," Recca testified.

Residents in the suburban community of roughly 30,000 have .

City leaders canceled the usual parade in 2023, opting instead for a “community walk.” The parade was reinstated last year on a different route and included a memorial.

Several survivors have also filed lawsuits against Crimo and gunmaker Smith & Wesson.

Crimo’s parents, who have attended most court proceedings, were not present Wednesday.

His father, Robert Crimo Jr., served  in jail  how his son obtained a gun license. He declined to comment Wednesday.