BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2022 A5
STATE & NATION
July 4 shooting suspect made threats before buying guns
BY MICHAEL TARM, KATHLEEN FOODY
AND STEPHEN GROVES
Associated Press
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. — The
man charged with killing seven peo-
ple when he unleashed a hail of bul-
lets on an Independence Day parade
from a rooftop in suburban Chicago
legally bought the high-powered rifle
used in the shooting and four other
weapons, despite threatening vio-
lence, police said.
Robert E. Crimo III was charged
with seven counts of murder Tues-
day, July 5 in the shooting that sent
hundreds of marchers, parents and
children fleeing in fear and set off an
hourslong manhunt in and around
Highland Park, an affluent commu-
nity on the shores of Lake Michigan.
Investigators have yet to identify a
motive.
Prosecutors have promised to seek
dozens more charges, and Crimo
is expected to make his first court
appearance on Wednesday. His at-
torney said he intends to enter a not
guilty plea to all charges.
A rifle “similar to an AR-15” was
used to spray more than 70 rounds
from atop a commercial building
into the parade crowd, a spokesman
for the Lake County Major Crime
Task Force said.
A seventh victim died of their inju-
ries Tuesday. More than three dozen
other people were wounded in the
attack, which Task force spokesman
Christopher Covelli said the suspect
had planned for several weeks.
The assault happened less than
three years after police went to Cri-
mo’s home following a call from a
family member who said he was
threatening “to kill everyone” there.
Covelli said police confiscated 16
knives, a dagger and a sword, but said
there was no sign he had any guns at
the time, in September 2019.
Police in April 2019 also re-
Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune-TNS
Highland Park resident Kernel Parikh leaves flowers near the Central Avenue crime scene Tuesday, July 5, 2022, the day after a
mass shooting at the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park.
sponded to a reported suicide at-
tempt by the suspect, Covelli said.
Crimo legally purchased the rifle
used in the attack in Illinois within
the past year, Covelli said. In all, po-
lice said, he purchased five firearms,
which were recovered by officers at
his father’s home.
The revelation about his gun pur-
chases is just the latest example of
young men who were able to obtain
guns and carry out massacres in re-
cent months despite glaring warning
signs about their mental health and
inclination to violence.
Illinois state police, who issue gun
owners’ licenses, said Crimo applied
for a license in December 2019, when
he was 19. His father sponsored his
application.
At the time “there was insufficient
basis to establish a clear and present
danger” and deny the application,
state police said in a statement.
Investigators who have interro-
gated the suspect and reviewed his
social media posts have not deter-
mined a motive or found any indica-
tion that he targeted victims by race,
religion or other protected status,
Covelli said.
At the July 4 parade, the shots were
initially mistaken for fireworks be-
fore hundreds of revelers fled in ter-
ror. A day later, baby strollers, lawn
chairs and other items left behind by
panicked parade goers remained in-
side a wide police perimeter. Outside
the police tape, some residents drove
up to collect blankets and chairs they
abandoned.
David Shapiro, 47, said the gun-
fire quickly turned the parade into
“chaos.”
“People didn’t know right away
where the gunfire was coming from,
whether the gunman was in front
or behind you chasing you,” he said
Tuesday as he retrieved a stroller and
lawn chairs.
The shooting occurred at a spot
CDC: Mask-wearing recommended
in growing number of counties
PORTLAND (AP) — Peo-
ple in 24 of Oregon’s 36 coun-
ties — including the county
around Portland, as well
as Baker County — and 15
counties in Washington state
should resume mask-wearing
indoors in public and on pub-
lic transportation, according
to recommendations from the
federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Data from the CDC shows
the counties are considered
high risk for COVID-19 in-
fection, KPTV reported. The
Oregon counties include: Clat-
sop, Tillamook, Lincoln, Lane,
Douglas, Josephine, Jackson,
Klamath, Lake, Deschutes,
Crook, Jefferson, Wasco, Sher-
man, Hood River, Clackamas,
Washington, Multnomah,
Morrow, Umatilla, Union,
Wallowa, Baker, and Malheur
counties.
In Washington, the counties
at high risk include: Clallam,
Grays Harbor, Pacific, Lewis,
Thurston, Pierce, Chelan,
Douglas, Grant, Walla Walla,
Columbia, Asotin, Lincoln,
Ferry and Spokane. That’s an
increase from six Washing-
Baker County cases more than doubled in June
Baker County, which is one of the 24 Oregon counties at high risk
of COVID-19 transmission according to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, reported 121 cases during June.
That’s more than twice the 49 cases tallied during May.
The county had 13 cases in April and 14 in March.
According to the Baker County Health Department, the county
had 55 cases from June 26 through July 2. That’s the highest weekly
total since early February, when the omicron wave was waning. The
county had 102 cases in the first week of February.
Baker County had a record high of 646 cases in January, followed
by 230 cases in February. The case rate plummeted starting in the
middle of February.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Region 9 remain well below
their peaks in October 2021 and February 2022. The region includes
Baker, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties. Pa-
tients hospitalized with COVID-19 peaked at 45 in Region 9 on Feb.
4, 2022. On June 25, 12 were hospitalized in the region, up from 0
on April 30.
ton counties at high risk as of
June 23.
The most recent commu-
nity levels were calculated
June 30.
High risk means the coun-
ties have had 200 or more new
COVID-19 cases per 100,000
people in the last seven days,
or they’ve had more than 20
new COVID-19 hospital ad-
missions per 100,000 people
within a seven-day period.
Baker County’s most recent
weekly rate was 304 cases per
100,000 people, and the hos-
pital admission rate was 49.8
per 100,000. Patients with
COVID-19 occupied 8.2% of
hospital beds, according to
CDC.
Dr. Jeff Duchin, health of-
ficer at Public Health – Se-
attle & King County, said on
Twitter Sunday, July 3 that
since April, the health agency
has recommended that peo-
ple wear high-quality masks
in indoor public spaces, that
people get all recommended
COVID-19 vaccines and
booster doses, and that indoor
air quality should be improved
and outdoor venues be prior-
itized.
Duchin said vaccines are
working well to halt hospi-
talizations and death but in-
fections and reinfections are
more common with the new
variants. The virus has evolved
to be more contagious.
Emerging research suggests
reinfections could put people
at higher risk for health prob-
lems.
Unvaccinated people have a
six times higher risk of dying
from COVID-19 compared
with people with at least a pri-
mary series of shots, the CDC
estimated based on available
data from April.
— Jayson Jacoby of the Baker City
Herald contributed to this story.
Noncitizens in Multnomah County could be granted right to vote
BY MAX EGENER
Oregon Capital Bureau
Voters in Multnomah County will see a
ballot measure this November that would
expand voting rights to residents who ar-
en’t U.S. citizens.
Last month, a group tasked with re-
viewing Multnomah County’s charter —
effectively a local constitution — unani-
mously recommended adding language
that would extend voting rights to more
groups, including people who are not cit-
izens.
If voters pass the measure, Multnomah
County would be the first jurisdiction in
Oregon to grant the right to vote in local
elections to “noncitizens.”
The county would be one of only a
handful of jurisdictions in the United
States that allow noncitizens to vote in lo-
cal elections. Eleven cities in Maryland,
two in Vermont and San Francisco cur-
rently allow voting by noncitizens.
The Multnomah County Charter Re-
view Committee, expecting controversy,
chose broad language for the charter
amendment to maximize who could gain
voting rights as well as to avoid potential
legal troubles.
“If we were to pursue one narrow dec-
laration of who we would like to expand
the vote to, if a court were to say, ‘No, you
can’t do it that way,’ then there’s not as
much recourse to really move this idea
forward,” said Samantha Gladu, who
helped draft the charter change and co-
chairs the subcommittee that started dis-
cussions about it.
The language under consideration says
the county shall extend the right to vote
for county officers and measures “to the
fullest extent allowed by law.”
At least one jurisdiction that tried to
extend voting rights to noncitizens —
New York City — saw the effort quashed
by a court ruling. On June 27, a New York
State Supreme Court justice struck down
the measure approved by the city council
last December, saying it violated the state’s
constitution.
Noncitizens used to be able to vote
Juliet Stumpf, a professor at Lewis &
Clark Law School who studies immi-
gration and criminal law, was skeptical
about the concept of noncitizen voting
at first.
“I thought that (citizenship) was
such a bedrock principle of our voting,”
Stumpf said.
She had an open mind about it be-
cause, she said, everyone who has a
stake in the community should have a
voice in the political system.
It wasn’t until she and her students
started researching the history of vot-
ing laws in Oregon and other states
that she began to favor noncitizen vot-
ing.
Two of her students published an ar-
ticle in the Lewis & Clark Law Review
last year that delves into the history of
voting rights throughout the United
States and makes a case for changing
Oregon law statewide to allow voting
by noncitizens.
Many states, including Oregon, al-
lowed noncitizens to vote when they
were founded. Racism and sexism were
very explicit in the laws, Stumpf said.
Planned Parenthood
set to open abortion
clinic in Ontario
Plans prompted
by Idaho law
making abortions
a felony except in
cases of rape,
incest or when
the mother’s life
is at risk
BY LESLIE THOMPSON
Ontario Argus Observer
ONTARIO — What does
the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3
decision overturning of the
Roe V. Wade case on June 24
mean for the border commu-
nity of the Western Treasure
Valley? The court’s decision
sends abortion rights back
to states. In 26 states there
are trigger laws that will take
effect in the next month.
This includes a trigger law in
Idaho adopted in 2020 which
will make abortion a felony
in most cases, except rape, in-
cest or when the mother’s life
is at risk.
As such, women seeking
those services in Idaho will
need to make a longer trip to
a state that still allows it, such
as Oregon.
Another law adopted in
Idaho this year is on hold
currently while the state’s
high court considers a law-
suit. That law would further
reducing access by banning
abortions after six weeks
of gestation — the average
length of time it takes for a
woman to realize she is preg-
nant. It would also allow fam-
ily members to sue abortion
providers. The Idaho Su-
preme Court is scheduled to
See Voting / A6
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on the parade route where many res-
idents had staked out prime viewing
points early in the day.
Among them was Nicolas Toledo,
who was visiting his family in Illinois
from Mexico, and Jacki Sundheim, a
lifelong congregant and staff member
at nearby North Shore Congregation
Israel. The Lake County coroner re-
leased the names of four other victims.
Nine people, ranging from 14 to
70, remained hospitalized Tuesday,
hospital officials said.
The shooting was just the latest to
shatter the rituals of American life.
Schools, churches, grocery stores
and now community parades have
all become killing grounds in recent
months. This time, the bloodshed
came as the nation tried to celebrate
its founding and the bonds that still
hold it together.
The gunman initially evaded cap-
ture by dressing as a woman and
blending into the fleeing crowd, Cov-
elli said.
A police officer pulled over
21-year-old Crimo north of the
shooting scene several hours after
police released his photo and warned
that he was likely armed and danger-
ous, Highland Park Police Chief Lou
Jogmen said.
Asked about his client’s emotional
state, prominent Chicago-based law-
yer Thomas A. Durkin said he has
spoken to Crimo only once — for 10
minutes by phone. He declined to
comment further.
In 2013, Highland Park officials
approved a ban on semi-automatic
weapons and large-capacity ammu-
nition magazines. A local doctor and
the Illinois State Rifle Association
quickly challenged the liberal sub-
urb’s stance. The legal fight ended at
the U.S. Supreme Court’s doorstep in
2015 when justices declined to hear
the case and let the suburb’s restric-
tions remain in place.
Toll Free 1-866-282-1925 www.reedinsurance.net
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hear arguments on that case
in August.
Previously, in the Western
Treasure Valley, the closest
place to obtain an abortion in
the region was at the Planned
Parenthood in Meridian or
Boise. The next-closest fa-
cility is 250 miles away in
Bend. Planned Parenthood
permanently closed its Boise
location about a week ago, ac-
cording to Anne Udall, CEO
for Planned Parenthood Co-
lumbia Willamette. She was
not certain whether the Me-
ridian clinic had closed yet,
but did say that clinics in Or-
egon and Washington already
had been seeing an uptick in
out-of-state patients. Udall
provided this information
during a news conference on
Friday afternoon with other
Planned Parenthood officials.
Officials with that entity
have been exploring opening
a clinic in Ontario. During
the news conference, Udall
confirmed that remains a
goal.
“The city of Ontario is
one place we are working to
establish a clinic,” she said,
though noted she did not
have more details on the tim-
ing.
All permitting and regu-
latory processes will be fol-
lowed for setting it up, she
stated, noting that those pro-
cesses take time. She said they
will share information di-
rectly with the Ontario com-
munity “when it is time.”
“Our current and future
patients need to know we put
their safety first and continue
to strive to reduce barriers to
care,” Udall said.
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