former classmate of Highland Park, Illinois, shooting suspect Tuesday described her as an awkward, soft-spoken child who did not participate in class or school activities and showed little interest in connecting with her peers.
Some of his former classmates said that some of Robert “Bobby” Cremo III’s friends were troublemakers, preferring the notion of being outsiders.
“They wanted to be an ‘anti’ group like the rebels,” said Mackenzie, a former classmate, who asked to be identified only by his first name to protect his privacy. “The aura he presented was contrasting, negative, and harsh.”
Mackenzie said she attended middle school and high school with Cremo and once shared a Spanish class with him. “Whenever I heard him speak, he was very lifeless and negative,” she said. “He’s always been down and not enthusiastic.”
A former classmate who requested anonymity for privacy reasons said that she and Cremo used to play video games and skateboard together in middle school, but they split when they were freshman at Highland Park High School.
“He was a skater kid,” he said of Cremo in middle school. “He used to make YouTube videos all the time then. DIY videos like this one on how to hold a skateboard or how to replace a wheel. ,
But in high school, the former classmate said, Cremo became more insular and distant.
“He was always by himself,” he said. “No one was trying to be his friend.”
Just before Cremo dropped out of Highland Park High in 2017, she scattered “wake up” stickers on the school stairs and in bathrooms, the former classmate said. Cremo created rap music under the name “Awake the Rapper”.
On Monday, when officials announced that Cremo was a “person of interest” in the Fourth of July shooting, a one-time friend said he was “not surprised.”
Molly Handelman, who also said that she attended middle school and high school with Cremo, described her as a “very quiet” person. “When he spoke, he was very soft. He never appeared aggressive.”
Handelman, who has worked with Cremo several times on class projects, said that “something definitely felt different” with him.
“If he was asked to speak, he certainly had an opinion,” she said. “I just remember that if he was asked to speak, he’d be like, ‘I don’t care,’ that sort of thing.”
“He made it clear that he didn’t care about the school,” Handelman said. “Her friends often got into trouble at school. He used to be quite restrained and calm, so it was interesting to see how calm he was but his friends were very rebellious,” she said.
Handelman said she was shocked to learn about Monday’s shooting. “It is very painful. A lot of people in Highland Park think it is a very safe community,” she said.
Another former classmate, who requested CNN not to use her name due to privacy concerns, said that Cremo “kept his head down, listened to music, walked through hallways, focused on his own business.” Gave.” However, this classmate said that she didn’t think there was a dark side to Cremo’s reclusive nature. “By no means was I like ‘There are demons in this kid,'” he told CNN.