Who is suspected Highland Park shooter Robert E. Crimo III?

Crimo shot at a 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, killing six and injuring many others.

 Robert E. Crimo III. (photo credit: ILLINOIS GOVERNMENT/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
Robert E. Crimo III.
(photo credit: ILLINOIS GOVERNMENT/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

The Highland Park police identified the prime suspect in the 4th of July shooting in Chicago on Monday as 22-year-old Robert E. Crimo III.

Crimo is an amateur rapper and songwriter who makes music under the stage name Awake. He released his first song "By the Pond" in 2016 which amassed more than three million streams before being removed from music stores and streaming services for an unspecified reason.

Crimo's Facebook and Instagram pages had been removed by the time police released his name, and his YouTube channel was also later removed, but a series of videos he uploaded online have remained. 

Crimo's videos

Most of the videos on the suspect's blog seemed to just be songs by Crimo, but others were far from innocent, containing symbolism and imagery connected to gun violence and assassination.

One particular video stood out - the only animated video depicting a character carrying out a shooting before being shot dead by police officers.

 Children, carrying a Highland Park Aquatics banner, pause after hearing gunfire, at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, U.S. July 4, 2022 in this screengrab obtained from social media video (credit:  Gina Troiani-Solorio via REUTERS)
Children, carrying a Highland Park Aquatics banner, pause after hearing gunfire, at a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Illinois, U.S. July 4, 2022 in this screengrab obtained from social media video (credit: Gina Troiani-Solorio via REUTERS)

Gun imagery repeats itself through many of the videos, while others evoked the John F. Kennedy assassination with one video focusing a motorcade. In another video of him rapping, an article about JFK's killer, Lee Harvey Oswald, could be seen pinned on the wall.