CHICAGO — Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, the alleged Highland Park Fourth of July parade shooter, prank-called a New York Post reporter on New Year’s Eve from jail, the outlet reported Saturday.
The phone call to the reporter came in at 8 p.m. on Dec. 31 from Lake County Adult Corrections Facility, the Post said. He reportedly made a joke before hanging up.
“Is your refrigerator running?” Crimo III, 22, said. “You better go catch it!” he said, according to the Post.
Crimo III fired dozens of shots from a rooftop perch into a crowd gathered for the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, according to prosecutors in the case. Seven people were killed and 48 wounded.
He has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder. His next court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 31.
The Post had attempted to schedule an interview with Crimo III through the jail’s communication app in December, the outlet said. The meeting was never arranged, and Crimo III ended up calling the number on the reporter’s profile weeks later. When the reporter answered the call on New Year’s Eve, Crimo III was identified by a prerecorded voice message.
Liz Turnipseed, 41, was one of the many people injured in the shooting. She was shot in the pelvis while attending the parade with her husband and 3-year-old daughter, the Post reported. She told the Post she now walks with a cane and suffers from panic attacks in crowded public spaces.
In response to the phone call, Turnipseed said Crimo III “clearly doesn’t have any respect for life and people in any way shape or form.”
“Whether that’s him making an unbelievable lame prank call to a reporter or committing a mass shooting, I think it just speaks to the terrible person that is,” Turnipseed said to the Post.
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