The father of the accused Highland Park gunman said he and his son discussed a mass shooting the night before the 21-year-old opened fire on parade-goers, killing seven.
Robert Crimo Jr. told the New York Post they spoke about the mall shooting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Sunday, which left three dead and three others critically injured.
“He goes, ‘Yeah, that guy is an idiot.’ That’s what he said!” Crimo Jr. recalled his son saying about the shooter.
His son also said, “People like that … [commit mass shootings] to amp up the people that want to ban all guns.”
Crimo Jr. said he’s in shock over what happened given that he had just spoken with his son 13 hours before the attack. “Like, did he have a psychiatric break or something?” he wondered.
The father has come under attack for sponsoring his son’s gun-license application, despite having his weapons confiscated by police months prior.
Authorities removed his son’s collection of knives, a sword and dagger after he threatened to kill members of his family. The father downplayed the incident as a “childish outburst” and called the weapons “just a collection.”
He and his estranged wife have since retained the attorney who represented R. Kelly amid accusations he helped his son.
Crimo Jr. has insisted, however, that he had nothing to do with the mass shooting.
“They make me like I groomed him to do all this,” he said. “I’ve been here my whole life, and I’m gonna stay here, hold my head up high, because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
At the same time, he has denounced his son’s “horrible” actions and said he hopes he receives a “long sentence.”
“You have consequences for actions. He made a choice. He didn’t have to do that. I think there’s mental illness there, obviously,” he told the Post. “I didn’t see a lot of it.”