Oregon community college shooter bought one gun from Arizona gun dealer
Oct 2, 2015, 11:58 AM | Updated: 12:22 pm
This undated photo from a MySpace page that appeared to belong to Chris Harper Mercer shows him holding a rifle. Authorities identified Mercer as the gunman who went on a deadly shooting rampage at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015. (MySpace via AP Photo)
(MySpace via AP Photo)
PHOENIX — At least one gun owned by the alleged Oregon community college shooter was purchased in Arizona, a federal official said Friday.
“The gun that we did trace was a rifle that was traced to a federal firearms licensee –a gun dealer, if you will — located in Arizona outside of the metro Phoenix area,” Special Agent Tom Mangan with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said.
Though the weapon was purchased in Arizona, Mangan said it may not indicate the shooter, identified as 26-year-old Chris Harper Mercer by the The Oregonian, was ever in Arizona.
“That weapon, for example, could have been purchased online and shipped to the purchaser,” he said, adding that the weapon was purchased in 2012.
It is unknown if the rifle was used in the shootings or found in Mercer’s apartment. All of the weapons were purchased legally.
Mangan said he is not permitted to say where in Arizona the weapon was purchased, citing department policy.
Mercer allegedly opened fire Thursday about 10:40 a.m. Arizona time on the Umpqua Community College campus. He killed nine people and wounded at least seven before he was killed in a shootout with law enforcement.
KTAR’s Martha Maurer contributed to this report.
