Indianapolis gunman bought rifles despite earlier gun confiscation
Indianapolis police say a gunman who opened fire at a FedEx warehouse killing eight people had legally bought the the two assault rifles he used, despite having a shotgun confiscated months earlier.
Brandon Hole’s mother had warned about his mental state last March and police had taken a gun he owned away from him.
But he was subsequently able to buy two assault rifles in July and September.
On Saturday his family apologised for the “pain and hurt” his actions caused.
The 19-year-old former FedEx worker opened fire at the warehouse on Thursday before killing himself minutes before police arrived.
Four of the dead have been identified as members of the local Sikh community. Other victims include two 19-year-olds, a university graduate and a father.
Police have not yet identified a motive for the attack.
Hole’s mother called police last March and told them she feared her son might try to commit “death by cop”, Paul Keenan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis field office, said.
Officers arrested him and took away his shotgun, records quoted by the Indianapolis Star newspaper show.
The FBI then interviewed him a month later but did not find evidence of a crime and did not identify Hole as following extremist ideology, Agent Keenan said.
Hole used both assault rifles in the attack, police said.
He fired randomly at people in the FedEx facility’s parking lot, fatally wounding four, before entering the building and killing four more people.
Indianapolis police said they could not give details about where he had bought the rifles as the investigation was ongoing.
President Biden has called the Indianapolis shooting and other recent mass shootings a “national embarrassment”.
Earlier this month he announced his first steps to tighten gun controls. They include efforts to set rules for certain guns, bolster background checks and support local violence prevention.
Agencies