The Highland Park, Illinois parade shooting suspect has changed his plea to guilty on the first day of the trial (per Chicago ABC affiliate WLS). The trial was expected to last three to five weeks, and see nearly all shooting survivors take the stand.

Shooting suspect Robert E. “Bobby” Crimo III, 24, pleaded guilty at the start of the trial to all 21 counts of first-degree murder (three counts of each person killed) and 48 counts of attempted murder. He is accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens of others in the mass shooting at a 2022 Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. (from NBC News.). He is now scheduled to be sentenced on April 23; he faces life in prison without parole if convicted.

Crimo was arrested several hours after the Independence Day shooting and confessed to firing more than 80 rounds into the parade crowd from a nearby rooftop.  After leaving the murder weapon from the Highland Park shooting in an alley near the scene, prosecutors said Crimo was armed with a second rifle and 60 rounds of ammunition while in Wisconsin. Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Chris Covelli stated at the time that Crimo “seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting in Madison. Following the attack, Crimo exited the roof, dropped his rifle, and he blended in with the crowd and escaped.” He was dressed as a woman on the day of the attack and wore makeup to hide his facial tattoos to blend in with the crowd, according to prosecutors.

Crimo had originally pleaded not guilty in August 2022 to all criminal charges after he was accused of opening fire from a rooftop during the parade. Crimo was expected to accept a plea deal in June 2024, but later rejected the deal and keep his plea of not guilty.

Those killed in the attack were married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35; 88-year-old Stephen Straus; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78, Eduardo Uvaldo, 69, Katherine Goldstein, 64 and Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63.

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