Illinois State Police director defends approving the Highland Park shooting suspect's gun permit

• The Illinois State Police director defended the agency's decision to give the Highland Park shooting suspect a gun permit.
• The suspect was able to obtain the permit despite having a previous "clear and present danger" report against him.

The director of the Illinois State Police defended the law enforcement agency's decision to give the Highland Park shooting suspect a gun permit despite a "clear and present danger" report that had been lodged against him.

"It was determined there was insufficient evidence to establish a clear and present danger," Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old shooting suspect charged with killing seven people and wounding dozens of others in a mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park was granted a gun license just months after local police took a collection of knives from his bedroom after it was reported that he made a threat to "kill everyone."

When Highland Park Police made contact with the suspect and his mother in September 2019, he admitted to being depressed and having a history of drug use, according to the "clear and present danger" report released on Wednesday by Illinois State Police.

At the time, police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger and sword from the bedroom of the shooting suspect, who denied being a danger to himself or others, the report said.

"Additionally, the report indicated the knives did not belong to the individual and were ultimately turned over to the father who claimed they were his," state police said.

That "clear and present danger" report by Highland Park Police was not enough for state police to deny the suspect a gun permit after he first applied for one in December 2019, Kelly said.

"What we have here is an officer that looked at a report and he saw a single individual make a report to another individual about a threat made by the subject of the shooting," Kelly said, explaining, "The police tried to corroborate that. They could not corroborate it."

Kelly added that the suspect said he wasn't a threat to themselves or others, and his mother agreed.

"So that's certainly a factor in being able to get the evidence and sufficient information that you need," he added

The father of the shooting suspect sponsored his son's firearm owner's identification card, which Illinois residents must have to possess firearms or ammunition legally.

The shooting suspect passed four background checks in 2020 and 2021 to legally purchase several guns, including the Smith & Wesson semiautomatic rifle that authorities say was used in Monday's massacre in the Chicago suburb.

"The only offense included in the individual's criminal history was an ordinance violation in January 2016 for possession of tobacco," state police have said.

State police said in a statement, "At the time of FOID application approval for the individual in question there was no new information to establish a clear and present danger, no arrests, no prohibiting criminal records, no mental health prohibitors, no orders of protection, no other disqualifying prohibitors and no Firearms Restraining Order."

"The available evidence would have been insufficient for law enforcement to seek a Firearms Restraining Order from a court," the statement read.