Content Warning: The following entry contains graphic material.

Overview

The 2022 Highland Park Parade Shooting refers to the mass shooting that took place during an Independence Day parade on July 4th, 2022, in Highland Park, Illinois outside Chicago. The incident occurred in the morning just as the parade began, with six people killed and at least 36 others injured. Police later identified 21-year-old Robert Eugene Crimo III as the prime suspect and arrested him roughly eight hours after the shooting. Following the event and widespread media coverage, the shooting became a widely discussed topic online with many details about Robert Crimo coming to light, such as his rapping career under the name “Awake the Rapper” in which he posted music videos on several streaming outlets that featured animated scenes of gun violence.

Background

On the morning of July 4th, 2022, around 10:15 a.m. in Highland Park, Illinois the shooting began when Robert Crimo started firing a rifle from the rooftop of a nearby building overlooking the street where the parade was underway.^[1] Initially, witnesses at the event reported at least five people were lying on the ground injured with over 70 shots fired.

Reporters and news teams on the scene captured the moment as gunfire began, showing attendees fleeing and screaming. One such video was captured by Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet on July 4th and posted to her Twitter^[2] account around noon that day, accumulating over 2 million views in 24 hours (seen below). In the hours following the shooting, additional videos and photos of the scene were posted on social media by attendees.

My video.. I was at #Highland Park parade.. Terrified people fleeing July 4th parade when shooting started. pic.twitter.com/DSe0NJOuem

— Lynn Sweet (@lynnsweet) July 4, 2022

According to CBS News,^[3] over 100 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting, with the shooter fleeing the scene dressed as a woman^[12] and evading police for at least nine hours before he was later captured and subsequently identified as Robert Eugene Crimo III.

In total, six individuals were killed with another 36 injured — 25 of which suffered gunshot wounds while the remaining 11 suffered injuries related to the stampede of attendees fleeing the scene.^[4]

Shooter Identified as Robert Eugene Crimo III

Around 7 p.m. on July 4th, 2022, the local sheriff’s office identified 21-year-old Robert Eugene Crimo III as a person of interest in the shooting.^[5] According to the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Crimo was apprehended shortly before his name was released around 6:30 p.m. following a pursuit.

A former student of Highland Park High School, Robert Crimo was known as a rapper who performed under the stage name "Awake the Rapper."^[6] On his YouTube channel, which has since been deleted, some of Crimo’s music videos depicted mass shootings with characters being shot by police. His music was also available on several streaming platforms such as Spotify, but have since been removed as of July 5th (seen below).

Additional details about Crimo’s online behavior and activity came to light following his arrest, including that he frequently visited online messageboards that discussed depictions of death and posted a video of a beheading days before the shooting.^[7] Crimo also allegedly had his own Discord server that was raided by 4chan users after the shooting but has since been shut down.^[6]

BREAKING: Authorities update on Highland Park mass shooting investigation:- Person of interest believed to have planned attack for weeks- Rifle appears to have been purchased legally in Illinois- No indication of involvement of othersMORE: https://t.co/tVpbKH6zpc pic.twitter.com/BQnAzuLjh3

— ABC News (@ABC) July 5, 2022

Online Reactions

Immediately following news of the shooting on July 4th, 2022, posts began appearing on various social media platforms as users discussed the event and the aftermath, which reached Twitter’s trending section.^[8] Many users posted how they felt angered by the shooting in regards to America’s ongoing mass shooting problem.

For example, Twitter^[9] user Hoont tweeted on July 4th that he was at the event and ran from the shooting with his children, expressing anger at the situation and receiving over 613,000 likes and 64,000 retweets in roughly 21 hours (seen below). Also that same day, Twitter^[10] user JoshuaPotash tweeted “A mass shooting at a 4th of July parade pretty much sums up where this country is at right now. Nothing to celebrate and tragedy after tragedy,” receiving over 149,000 likes and 29,700 retweets in 24 hours.

Some users also noted that Google’s special effect for July 4th search results accidentally displayed over the top of news about the shooting in a viral gaffe. One such Twitter^[11] user, BNONews, shared a video before it was removed, receiving over 1 million views and 40,000 likes in 24 hours (seen below).

Google's 4th of July tribute goes wrong when page is overtaken by news of mass shooting pic.twitter.com/C0pfjKxFk0

— BNO News (@BNONews) July 4, 2022

Search Interest

External References