Highland Park shooting suspect admits to deadly attack, prosecutor says

The man accused of killing seven people and wounding dozens of others at an Independence Day parade outside of Chicago admitted to authorities that he carried out the shooting, a prosecutor said on Wednesday during the suspect's first court appearance.

Robert Crimo, the 21-year-old suspect facing seven counts of first-degree murder, appeared at the bond hearing via a video link from jail, two days after the attack in Highland Park, Illinois. Dressed in black and wearing shoulder length hair, Crimo was denied bail by Judge Theodore Potkonjak.

Ben Dillon, a county prosecutor, told the court that the suspect confessed to the July 4th attack after he was apprehended. There was no plea entered at the hearing. Crimo spoke only briefly to confirm that he did not have a lawyer. A public defender was appointed to represent him.

"He does pose, in fact, a specific and present threat to the community," the judge said in ordering that Crimo remain jailed.

Authorities said on Tuesday that Crimo planned the Illinois attack for weeks before climbing up to his sniper's perch on a rooftop from an alley and firing more than 70 rounds using a semiautomatic rifle into parade spectators before making his getaway dressed in women's clothing and makeup to cover his facial tattoos.

At least seven people were killed and more than three dozen were hospitalised with gunshot wounds and other injuries after the shooting.

The suspect was arrested later on Monday when he was stopped by police at the wheel of his mother's car, which authorities said he had driven to Wisconsin and back to Illinois following the shooting.

A Smith & Wesson semiautomatic rifle, similar to an AR-15, used in the shooting was found at the scene, and the suspect had a similar weapon in his mother's car when arrested, according to county prosecutors.

If convicted on seven counts of first-degree murder, he would face a mandatory life prison sentence without the possibility of parole, Eric Reinhart, the state's attorney for Lake County, said in announcing the charges on Tuesday.

"These are just the first of many charges that will be filed against Mr. Crimo," the prosecutor told reporters. "We anticipate dozens of more charges centered around each of the victims."