Man admits murder after 2022 mass shooting in Chicago

A man accused of killing seven people and injuring dozens at an Independence Day parade in the United States has pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder.

Robert E Crimo III, 23, changed his plea moments before opening arguments in his trial in Illinois.

The shooting took place in Highland Park, a suburb of Chicago, on 4 July 2022.

Prosecutors initially charged Crimo with 21 counts of first-degree murder - three counts for each person killed - as well as 48 counts of attempted murder.

Prosecutors dropped 48 less serious counts of aggravated battery last week.

Today, Judge Victoria Rossetti read the charges to Crimo and asked if he understood before any open plea was read to the court.

He will be sentenced on 23 April and is certain to spend the rest of his life in jail. Each count of first-degree murder carries a sentence of life in prison.

The trial began on 24 February and was expected to last about a month with testimony from survivors and police.

Prosecutors submitted thousands of pages of evidence, as well as hours of a videotaped interrogation during which police said that Crimo confessed to the shooting.

Dozens of people were wounded in the attack in Highland Park, about 50km north of Chicago.

The injured ranged in age from their 80s to an eight-year-old boy who was left partially paralysed.

Witnesses described confusion as the shots began, followed by panic as families fled the parade route to find safety inside nearby businesses or homes.

The criminal case proceeded slowly for months, partly because of Crimo's unpredictable behaviour.

Last June, when he was expected to accept a plea deal and give victims and relatives a chance to address him publicly, he showed up to court in a wheelchair and rejected the deal, surprising even his lawyers.

Crimo also fired his public defenders and said he would represent himself before abruptly changing his mind.

The trial came almost two years after his father’s case focusing on how his son obtained a gun licence.

In 2019, when he was 19, Crimo was only allowed to apply for a licence with the sponsorship of a parent or guardian.

His father agreed, even though a relative had reported to police that his son had a collection of knives and had threatened to "kill everyone".

Crimo’s father, Robert Crimo Jnr, pleaded guilty in 2023 to seven counts of reckless conduct.

City leaders cancelled the 4 July parade in 2023 but reinstated it the following year with a remembrance ceremony for those killed.

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