Firearm used to kill six during Highland Park Fourth of July Parade was legally purchased, mayor says

The weapon used to kill seven people and wound dozens more during an Independence Day parade in Highland Park was purchased legally, according to officials.

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering said during an interview on the “Today” show Tuesday that she knew little else about the firearm and that her “greater focus this morning, as the sun is rising, is how my community is feeling.”

“As a small town, everybody knows somebody who was affected by this directly, and of course, we’re all still reeling,” she said.

Police crime tape is seen near a pair of American flag-themed sunglasses laying on the ground at the scene of the Fourth of July parade shooting in Highland Park, Ill. (YOUNGRAE KIM/)

Authorities previously said the gunman used a “high-powered rifle” to open fire from a rooftop on those enjoying a Fourth of July Parade in Highland Park, a wealthy and liberal Chicago suburb. At least seven people were killed and dozens more injured in the violence.

“At some point this nation needs to have a conversation about these weekly events involving the murder of dozens of people with legally obtained guns,” the mayor said. “If that’s what our laws stand for then I think we have to examine the laws.”

Rotering nearly a decade ago signed off on a city ordinance banning assault weapons.

“The City Council has determined that assault weapons are traditionally not used for self-defense in the city of Highland Park, and that such weapons pose an undue risk to public safety,” reads the ordinance, signed on June 24, 2013.

Law enforcement escorts a family away from the scene of a shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Ill. (Mark Borenstein/)

As mayor, she went on to defend the ban against a pro-gun group in Illinois. The battle made its way to the Supreme Court, which ultimately declined to hear the case.

The bloodshed that unfolded downtown on Monday, she added, is exactly what officials at the time were seeking to avoid.

“I want us to talk about the fact that there are weapons of war on our streets that people can legally obtain — and then take out dozens of people,” she said. “Our community is never going to recover from this wound.”

Within hours of the mass shooting, authorities announced that they had arrested Robert Crimo III, who has been labeled a person of interest in the case.

A family looks outside of their front door near the home of the mother of the man detained in the mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade on July 4, 2022 in Highland Park, Illinois. (Jim Vondruska/)

“I knew him as somebody who was a Cub Scout when I was the Cub Scout leader — and it’s one of those things where you step back, and you say, ‘What happened?’ " the mayor said.

She noted that Crimo “was just a little boy” when she knew him.

Rotering added she did not believe that Crimo was known to law enforcement officials prior Monday’s shooting and that she is “waiting for charges to be levied against the individual” responsible.