The Illinois State Police is discussing current Red Flag Laws in the aftermath of the Highland Park mass shooting at their Fourth of July Parade.
ISP Director Brendan Kelly says they have carefully analyzed how they handled the review of a clear and present danger report and issuance of a FOID card to the Highland Park shooting suspect. During a media briefing he was asked if any changes to the process are needed.
“Illinois has obviously a comprehensive and fairly rigorous firearms training regime in this state and we are always continuously assessing if their are weaknesses or gaps and what we can do better.”
Kelly stresses that Illinois Red Flag Laws rely heavily on family members and others reporting their concerns about an individual and then cooperating with law enforcement.
“The people that have the information that could allow us to take further action, we have to have those folks cooperation and diligence. We have to have those people to tell us things that would reach the legal threshold for us to take action.”
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, airing on Good Morning America, Thursday, the father of the Highland Park parade shooter says he doesn’t know the motive behind his son’s actions. Robert Crimo Jr. telling ABC News he had “no inkling” that his 21-year old son was planning the massacre and that the whole system needs to be overhauled to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.
“It’s surreal. I don’t think there are books written on how to cope with something like this. It’s difficult and we didn’t see this coming at all.”
Illinois State Police say there will be criminal investigations into the culpability of the father, because he sponsored the application for his son’s 2020 firearm permit.
