Gunman in FedEx shooting legally purchased assault rifles used in attack, police say
The gunman in the shooting who killed eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis on Thursday before taking his own life legally bought the two assault rifles that were used in the attack, police said Saturday.
Indianapolis police said the man, Brandon Hole, 19, a former employee of the facility, used weapons bought in July and September despite red flags meant to prevent such purchases.
Authorities did not say where the guns were bought.
The FBI said Friday that it had interviewed the suspect last year after his mother called police to say he might be a danger to himself and the community. A police report obtained by The Associated Press shows that officers seized a pump-action shotgun from Hole’s home after the call and did not return it.
Indiana’s “red flag law” allows police or courts to seize guns from people who show warning signs of violence. The law is intended to prevent people from buying or possessing firearms if they are found by a judge to present “an imminent risk” to themselves or others.
Authorities have two weeks after having seized someone’s weapon to argue in court that the person should not be allowed to possess a gun, according to the law. Officials have not said whether a judge made a red flag ruling in Hole’s case.
Sikh community mourns loss of four in Indianapolis FedEx mass shooting
The FedEx shooting was the third high-profile shooting in Indianapolis this year. In January, five people, including a pregnant woman, were shot and killed in the city’s northeast side. And last month, a man fatally shot three adults and a child at a home in a dispute over a stimulus check, police said.
Authorities did not say where the guns were bought.
The FBI said Friday that it had interviewed the suspect last year after his mother called police to say he might be a danger to himself and the community. A police report obtained by The Associated Press shows that officers seized a pump-action shotgun from Hole’s home after the call and did not return it.
At least four of the people killed Thursday were members of Indianapolis’ Sikh community.