The gunman who killed two people and wounded several others in a school shooting in St. Louis, Missouri, on Monday was flagged by an FBI background check but was still able to purchase the AR-15-style rifle he used in the attack from a private seller, police said.
When 19-year-old Orlando Harris first tried to purchase a gun from a licensed dealer, the background check blocked the sale, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Sgt. Charles Wall said Thursday. But Harris could still legally buy the rifle from a private individual who had bought the firearm from a licensed dealer in 2020, Wall said.
Harris’s family had been worried about his mental health, so when his mother found the rifle in their home, the family contacted police, authorities said.
