Chicago July 4th Shooting Suspect Was A 'Hip Hop Phenom,' Posted Videos On Vimeo

Chicago, Illinois -- Robert E. Crimo III, the suspect in a July 4th mass shooting in Illinois that claimed six lives, has been described by IMDb as a “hip hop phenom” known as “Awake the Rapper.”

Crimo, 21, is the main person of interest in the shooting that happened at the Independence Day parade in Chicago. He has since been captured and detained by police.

Crimo was dubbed a “six foot Hip hop phenom” who gained online traction with his song “On My Mind” released in October 2018. The rapper, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, has an estimated net worth of $100,000, according to IMDb.

In October 2021, Crimo uploaded a music video of his track “Are You Awake” to Vimeo. The lyrics appeared to suggest that he was planning an act that was beyond his ability to stop. The video included drawings of a man aiming a rifle at another person as well as an image showing a shooting victim with blood spraying from the body.

“Like a sleepwalker, I am unable to stop and think. My actions will be valiant and my thought is unnecessary. I know what I have to do, I know what's in it, not only for me, but for everyone else,” Crimo says in the track, according to Fox News which obtained a copy of the video.

“I need to leave now, I need to just do it. It is my destiny, everything has led up to this. Nothing can stop me, not even myself. Is there such thing as free will, or has this been planned out, like a cosmic recipe?”

Crimo also posted a video on YouTube in which he was seen draping himself with an American flag in the aftermath of a school shooting. Another video showed a cartoon depiction of a man wearing a shirt with Crimo’s YouTube channel’s logo on it. The man in the second video was shown holding a gun and, later, being shot by the police.

The videos, as well as Crimo’s YouTube account, became unavailable Monday night, according to NBC News.

Crimo is accused of using a high-powered rifle to shoot at the crowd from a rooftop during Highland Park’s annual 4th of July Parade. The event had not been held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The shooting left six dead and dozens of parade-goers injured. Five of the victims were adults who died at the scene. The sixth victim, of whom no additional information was released, died at the hospital.