On a Tuesday morning in Highland Park, the sound of drums and laughter from the Fourth of July Parade was replaced by screams and gunfire. Amid the chaos, few knew that the man firing from a rooftop had legally obtained his weapon – with help from his father. It wasn’t the first time a parent’s signature has allowed for a child to cause a massacre. This raises urgent questions about both parental accountability and gun laws in an era of mass shootings.
As America grapples with mass shootings, more cases have emerged where the deaths of many could have been prevented had stronger gun laws been in place and more vigilant parenting.
In Highland Park, Illinois, Robert Crimo Jr. spent 60 days in jail with community service after being charged with seven counts of reckless conduct (one for each person murdered by his son, the Fourth of July shooter). Lake County prosecutors pressed charges on Robert Crimo Jr. because evidence showed he was aware of his son’s past suicidal and homicidal statements, which revealed Robert Crimo III as dangerous.
Additionally, he failed to respond to his son’s behavior after he was reported to the police in September 2019 for saying he was going to “kill everyone.” In the report, Robert Crimo III also admitted he was depressed, abusing drugs, and had 18 knives and swords in his room.
July 4, 2023, Robert Crimo III went to the Highland Park Parade with the intention to kill. He shot 55 people, seven of whom were killed. The gun he used was an M&P15, a gun intended only for military and police personnel, and “cousins” to the AR-15 rifle – a machine gun.
Another instance when a child was aided by his parents in a shooting: The Oxford High School Shooting was enabled by 19-year-old Ethan Robert Crumbley’s parents, Jennifer and James Crumbley.
Ethan Crumbley was 15 when he murdered four Oxford High School students and injured seven. His parents were charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter in relation to the four deaths that occurred at the hands of their son.
They were held legally responsible for Ethan Crumbley’s possession of a SIG Sauer 9 millimeter gun because they purchased the firearm under James Crumbley’s name and later gave it to Ethan Crumbley for Christmas. They received a sentence of at least 10 years in prison.
When Ethan Crumbley heard a door slam in his house while home alone and got scared it was a “demon”, he texted his mother, Jennifer Crumbley, who didn’t respond until the next morning. A week later, he sent another text to Jennifer Crumbley, saying the demon was “throwing bowls,” in all capital letters, and when she didn’t respond, he wrote, “Can you at least text back?” Still, there was no response. Instead, her phone showed selfies of her and her husband during the time the messages were sent.
More signs of neglect arose when Ethan Crumbley went to his parents to ask for medical help for his apparent mental issues, but his parents did not take him seriously. Ethan Crumbley texted his friend that Jennifer Crumbley responded by telling him to “suck it up”.
15-year-old Ethan Crumbley was caught in class looking up pictures of .22 bullets, a disturbing enough scene to have a teacher contact his parents, but Jennifer Crumbley responded over text by saying, “LOL. I’m not mad. You have to learn not to get caught.”
A parent’s oversight of signs of mental disturbance in their child was once again seen in the 2018 Nashville Waffle House Shooting. Travis Reinking, aged 36, opened fire with a Bushmaster AR-15 at a Waffle House in Tennessee – the assault rifle, which his father, Jeffery Reinking, was legally responsible for his son’s possession of.
Jeffery Reinking was given an 18-month prison sentence.
Travis Reinking had been admitted to the Behavioral Health Unit at Unity Point Methodist Medical Center in Peoria within the previous five years, leading up to the shooting. Jeffery Reinking was aware of this before granting his son access to the rifle, though he denied any understanding that it was for reasons of poor mental health in court.
However, Jeffery Reinking was identified as being present in multiple incidents showing significant signs of mental illness in his son. One included a breakdown in a CVS Pharmacy parking lot in which Travis Reinking told an Illinois State Police trooper that he had been having delusions of being stalked by the singer Taylor Swift.
The trooper, Ricardo Mancha, had informed Jeffrey Reinking and the other family members present at the time that, due to the incident, Travis Reinking was going to be admitted to Unity Point for the institution’s well-reputed mental health facility. Travis’ week-long stay at Unity Point resulted in the state’s revocation of his FOID (Firearm Owners Identification) card. This led to his father briefly removing his firearms from his possession before returning them when Travis Reinking moved to Tennessee later that same year.
His parents’ permission to regain access to his firearms was what allowed Travis Reinking to open fire in a Waffle House in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville less than a year later.
Shootings in America are extremely prevalent, taking thousands of lives each year, and going almost unnoticed in terms of changes to legislation.
It is often not a matter of failing to notice the signs of potential danger, but rather the failure to act on them and respond accordingly.
