This is the semiautomatic rifle Robert Crimo III had hidden in his car after his July 4 massacre at the Highland Park parade – a rifle he considered using for a second mass shooting during the holiday season.
The Kel Tec SUB2000 — one of at least five weapons the killer had legally purchased, even after police deemed it “an obvious and present danger” — was found in Crimo’s car when he was arrested hours after his massacre, police said.
The well-known 21-year-old killer had already dumped the semi-automatic he used to kill seven and injure dozens more — a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 — as he fled disguised in women’s clothing on Monday.
After fleeing Illinois in his mother’s car, he headed to neighboring Wisconsin — where he later admitted to considering a second attack after stumbling over the Independence Day celebrations, officers said Wednesday.
He also had about 60 bullets on him, police said.
“He seriously considered using the firearm in his vehicle to commit another shooting in Madison,” Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli told a news conference.
†[But] there are indications that he has not planned enough to carry out another attack,” Covelli said.
The photo of the weapon, released Wednesday by the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, shows it atop a black backpack in the passenger seat of Crimo’s mother’s car.
Its ease of breaking and concealment is one of its main selling points, Kel Tec said of the semiautomatic “designed to be the handiest 9mm or .40 caliber rifle available.”
“Ideal for backpacking trips and situations where space and convenience are paramount,” the company says of the weapon, which retails for about $600.
“Folded, it fits well in situations where space is limited, but it can be quickly deployed in situations where time is of the essence,” says the arms maker.
More importantly, Kel Tec brags, “the SUB2000 is just fun to shoot.”
Three other firearms — a Remington 700, a shotgun and a Glock 43 — were recovered from Crimo’s home after the shooting, officials said.
The deranged aspiring rapper’s ability to buy the guns sparked outrage after it was revealed that he had already been flagged as “an obvious and present danger” after threatening to “kill everyone in his family” in September 2019 when a terrifying array of knives was found near this house.
However, he was never charged – and his family has never reported mental health problems, despite the then 19-year-old threatening suicide.
His father, former mayoral candidate Robert Crimo Jr., helped his son obtain a firearms owner’s ID – or FOID – just weeks after the threats.
His son went on to pass four police background checks, despite Illinois’ red flag law, which aims to take guns away from people with potentially violent behavior.
In an exclusive interview with The Post, the killer’s father insisted he was “zero” responsible for his son’s massacre.
“He bought everything himself and they are in his name,” the father said of his son’s weapons.
“You know, he drove over there, he ordered them, he picked them up, they did his background check on each one of them,” insisted the besieged father.
Parents’ attorney Steve Greenberg also told Fox32 that sponsoring the FOID card was “no different than enrolling your child in driver training.”
Crimo has been slapped with seven charges of first degree murder, which would face a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
“Many, many more charges will follow,” said Lake County attorney Eric Rinehart, who vowed to file attempted murder and aggravated battery charges for any individual injured.
Some of the injured are still in critical condition in hospital and the death toll could rise, police said.