Police granted Highland Park suspect a gun license months after he had weapons confiscated for making a violent threat

• The Highland Park suspect got a gun license even though police had earlier confiscated knives from him.
• Local police took 16 knives from the suspect in 2019 after a report that he said he would kill people.

Police in Illinois granted the suspect in the Highland Park shooting a gun license four months after local police confiscated his weapons after a family member said he threatened to kill people.

Seven people were killed and dozens were injured Monday after a shooter opened fire at Chicago parade celebrating Independence Day.

Police arrested the suspect shortly after the attack. He is scheduled to appear via Zoom for an arraignment hearing on Wednesday morning.

In the wake of the shooting, questions have been raised over how the suspect was able to legally obtained guns despite a history of intervention by the police.

In September 2019, Highland Park Police confiscated 16 knives, a dagger, and a sword from the home of the suspect in the shooting, The Daily Beast reported.

That intervention came after a family member reported that he said was going to "kill everyone," police said Tuesday.

However, this was not enough to prevent Illinois State Police — a different agency — from approving him for gun ownership in early 2020. In Illinois this comes via a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card.

Since the shooting, state police said that the knife-confiscating incident fell short of the formal threshold for denying a permit because it did not lead to a formal legal complaint.

Police said they had no grounds to turn the suspect down because the only mark on his criminal record was an "ordinance violation in January 2016 for possession of tobacco."

The statement said: "The September 2019 Clear and Present Danger report made by the Highland Park Police Department was made in response to threats allegedly directed at the family, but the report indicates when police went to the home and asked the individual if he felt like harming himself or others, he responded 'no.'"

"No one, including family, was willing to move forward on a complaint nor did they subsequently provide information on threats or mental health that would have allowed law enforcement to take additional action back in 2019."

Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart, who on Tuesday announced seven charges of murder against the suspect, also said that the relevant "red flag" laws had not been triggered in this case.

He said that someone who "know[s] the subject" must file a complaint with a court for it to be validated.

The suspect used his FOID to buy at least two rifles legally , one of which police said was used in Monday's shooting.