FBI background check blocked gun sale to St. Louis shooter

Police say the 19-year-old gunman who shot and killed two people at a St. Louis high school purchased the AR-15-style rifle from a private seller after an FBI background check stopped him from buying a weapon from a licensed dealer

ByJIM SALTER Associated Press
October 27, 2022, 10:11 PM

ST. LOUIS -- The 19-year-old gunman who forced his way into a St. Louis school and killed two people purchased the AR-15-style rifle from a private seller after an FBI background check stopped him from buying a weapon from a licensed dealer, police said Thursday.

Orlando Harris tried to buy a firearm from a licensed dealer in nearby St. Charles, Missouri, on Oct. 8, St. Louis police said in a news release Thursday evening. An FBI background check “successfully blocked this sale,” police said, though they didn't say why the sale was blocked. A message seeking comment wasn't immediately returned.

Harris then bought the rifle used in the school shooting on Monday at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School from a private seller who had purchased it legally in 2020, police said.

Police noted in the release that Missouri does not have a red-flag law aimed at keeping firearms away from people who may be a danger to themselves or others. As a result, police "did not have clear authority to temporarily seize the rifle when they responded to the suspect’s home when called by the suspect’s mother on 10/15/22.”

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