In virtually every mass shooting case, there are signs that people missed or to which they didn’t respond.

In the case of the Highland Park suspect, Robert Crimo III, one has to wonder, yet again, what was going on when you could see so many issues all over his social media, as we have reported. But there was more.

Highland Park police says they had two prior encounters with the shooter:

April 2019: Suicide attempt

Sept 2019: Family member said Crimo threatened to "kill everyone" and police removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword but found no probable cause to arrest. pic.twitter.com/wWBi9IGivp

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) July 5, 2022

Lake County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli laid out some of Crimo’s troubling history.

In September 2019, family members reported that Crimo threatened to “kill everyone” and that he had a collection of knives, Covelli said. Highland Park police responded to the home and removed 16 knives, a dagger and a sword from the home. Police notified Illinois State Police of the matter, but otherwise didn’t have probable cause to make an arrest, authorities said.

An ISP spokeswoman said that at that time, Crimo did not have a firearm owner’s identification card, required for the purchase of firearms, to revoke or review.

Earlier, in April 2019, police were called because Crimo had attempted suicide about a week earlier. Officers determined that the matter was being handled by mental health professionals.

But when he applied for a firearms card in 2019, his father signed for him and the Illinois State Police didn’t see the threats as enough of a reason to withhold it from him because the family didn’t press charges.

Because the family did not press charges at the time of the Sept 2019 death threats, ISP says that when they were reviewing Crimo III’s FOID card application in Jan 2020, “there was insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger and deny the FOID application.” @axios

— Monica Eng (@monicaeng) July 5, 2022

But unclear what those responsibilities continue to be after the applicant turns 21

— Monica Eng (@monicaeng) July 5, 2022

I would say that was a poor assessment of the situation all the way around and doubtless, that decision is likely going to come back on the father, as well as the Illinois State Police.

Crimo was able to get the gun he allegedly used in the shooting legally and when he was arrested, the police found another gun in his car. Then when they tossed his home, they found three more legal guns. He was allegedly planning it for a long time.

They have red flag laws in Illinois. You don’t need more laws here, you need people to properly evaluate the signs that they see and take proper action.