Whatever article i just read (probably Reuters) says that DNA on the gun was helpful in identifying him. And that the gun was purchased legally.
Moderating:
This post is kinda political. If there’s but a political thread, it’s time to create one.
Here’s some relatively new reporting, too – about how he was originally identified:
Crimo, who also goes by the rapper name “Awake,” was identified after his DNA was found on a rifle close to the scene of the shooting, NBC Chicago reported. He was dressed as a woman at one point during the incident, according to the outlet.
I thought that your DNA wasn’t ‘in the system’ unless you had a criminal record. Maybe it was a relative’s DNA that matched ?? No clue. Stay tuned.
Reporting also says he had a second rifle (in the car ?), and ‘several’ additional firearms in his residence – all, apparently, legally purchased.
Was the DNA used to figure out who he was without having any idea who he might be or was it used to confirm it was him after he was already a suspect?
Regarding it being a relative, Smarter Every Day (or maybe Veritasium) did a really interesting video on how DNA can be tracked to a specific person, or very small group of people, even if none of those people have any DNA on file. IIRC, they can essentially, for lack of a better word, ‘triangulate’ you based on a DNA sample that matches a few of your relatives. And don’t forget, most people probably have a good number of relatives that have voluntarily sent their DNA to places like 23 And Me.
Planned for weeks, caught in hours.
I like that somehow.
Eight people were shot at a 4th of July celebration at a park in Minneapolis.
I had no idea that a DNA match could be done that quickly. I thought I heard that the gun was traced to him via the serial number, which sounds more plausible.
Good question. I’m not sure we know yet.
I remember hearing about that in the identification and capture of the Golden State Killer:
Yup, that’s, at least in part, what the video is about. Around the 15ish minute mark they get into how they can narrow down who a suspect is without having their DNA on file.
Forgive me, @puzzlegal, I hope I’m not stepping out of bounds here in terms of the politics discussion. I personally don’t know what political stripe he is of – I somewhat get the feeling he just hated politics of all stripes, though some of the more obvious stuff posted is that he was right-ward. Then again, dressing up as Waldo at a Trump rally can be something more associated with someone mocking Trump, as well.
Be that as it may, yes, on Reddit, I’ve seen several posts saying, basically, “look at the guy – that’s not what a true Conservative looks like,” as if being tatted up and having dyed hair and looking “alternative” is somehow something only leftist folk do. Folks who feel disenfranchised or isolated/misunderstood of both political sides can have some “extreme” shows of individuality and self-expression.
For those wishing to carry on a discussion touching on political aspects of this incident, I’ve started a P&E thread here.
Fatality #7 just reported (CNN).
#Murica !
Certainly your DNA needs to be in the “system” but how it gets there is a bit of a mystery sometimes. Interesting take on a relative so they got a “close enough” match. Also, I would not be surprised if companies like 23andMe that do genetic testing for families sell their data to the government.
All of that said, I thought that, even today, there is NO WAY they could do a genetic test and get an answer in a couple hours. I might be wrong. Maybe it is that fast today but this seems improbably fast (assuming that is what happened). They identified the possible shooter within hours.
And under one scenario (ie, that they tested the rifle, and then – on apprehending the suspect – tested him to see if the two samples matched), they’d have had to do two DNA tests in what, I agree, would be an extraordinarily short period of time.
At least one company, GedMatch, offers a specific opt-in to use your DNA for law enforcement.
It would have been smarter for him to use a cover-up cream to hide those face and neck tattoos. There are some very effective ones these days.
But probably just as well this guy wasn’t a rocket-scientist level of smart.
No, apparently the shooter disguised himself as a woman so the transgender community will get the blame. 
Our country is turning into a mashup of The Purge and The Handmaid’s Tale. But at least the Purge was only one night a year and the Republic of Gilead has strict gun control. I wish my ancestors stayed in Europe.
Not 23 & Me, at least not at the moment.
23andMe chooses to use all practical legal and administrative resources to resist requests from law enforcement, and we do not share customer data with any public databases, or with entities that may increase the risk of law enforcement access. In certain circumstances, however, 23andMe may be required by law to comply with a valid court order, subpoena, or search warrant for genetic or personal information.
I dunno. If he hadn’t dropped the gun he might have gotten away. Do we know if anyone actually ID’d him from the scene?
(Of course, it was next-level stupid to drop the gun. Has he watched The Godfather too many times?)
About 8 hours. A couple of these steps could be done more quickly, maybe 6 hours in a life-or-death situation where you’re more concerned about getting the ID to apprehend someone (like here) than rigorously following a standard protocol to ensure that it holds up in court.
Forensic Science - DNA Testing Procedures
So there’s no way the initial ID came from DNA, that was only a couple of hours after the incident. I think that probably came from the gun trace, and the DNA result came back overnight.
Presumably he didn’t care about being IDed eventually, since he left a gun at the scene that was legally purchased in Illinois and he knew traceable back to him. It sounds like this was his plan all along, to drop the gun and disappear into the crowd wearing women’s clothing. With the second rifle in the car, I bet he planned to shoot up somewhere else, but was caught out by the speed with which they traced the gun back to him.