Highland Park Fourth of July parade attack: Are parents of alleged gunman culpable?
Fox News
Highland Park Fourth of July shooting suspect Robert Crimo III legally purchased his firearms, but his dad could still face legal trouble, experts say.
FBI agents work the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 5, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. Police have detained Robert "Bobby" E. Crimo III, 22, in connection with the shooting. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images) A Fourth of July parade-goer runs for cover after gunfire was heard at the parade Monday morning in Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago. (Lynn Sweet/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) Empty chairs sit along the sidewalk after parade-goers fled Highland Park's Fourth of July parade after shots were fired, Monday. (Lynn Sweet/Chicago Sun-Times via AP) A police officer reacts as he walks in downtown Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago, Monday, July 4, 2022, where a mass shooting took place at a Highland Park Fourth of July parade. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) A police officer runs across a street after gunfire erupted at a Fourth of July parade route in the wealthy Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, U.S. July 4, 2022 in a still image from video. (ABC affiliate WLS/ABC7 via ) Michael Ruiz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to michael.ruiz@fox.com and on Twitter: @mikerreports
"Negligent entrustment of dangerous weapons can be used against them on the civil side," said Steve Bertolino, the New York attorney who represents the parents of the late suspected killer Brian Laundrie. "On the criminal side, I don’t know that the criminal statutes are on par with what the public of our time seems to want to apply as the rule of law in holding persons responsible for the acts of others."
But prosecutors have grown more aggressive in their pursuit of charges against the parents of suspected mass shooters, according to Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles trial attorney and former federal prosecutor.