Charleston church gunman bought pistol near home: NBC

[June 24, 2015]  By Harriet McLeod
 
 COLUMBIA, S.C. (Reuters) - The accused Charleston gunman, Dylann Roof, bought the semiautomatic pistol used in last week's church massacre at a South Carolina gun store about 25 miles from his home, according to NBC News, citing officials familiar with the sale.

The purchase was legal despite Roof's arrest in February for illegal possession of prescription painkillers, officials told NBC.

Roof's father gave him a .45-caliber Glock pistol for his birthday this year, his uncle told Reuters. Other reports said Roof bought the gun himself with money given to him as a birthday gift.

Roof is accused of shooting to death nine black men and women at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church last Wednesday evening during a Bible study class.

The firearm was purchased on April 11, eight days after Roof turned 21, at Shooter's Choice, a firearms showroom and gun range in West Columbia about five miles from Columbia, the state capital, NBC reported.

When a Reuters reporter visited the store on Tuesday, an employee said he could not discuss customer details. Asked if he had heard that his shop sold Roof's gun to him, a man behind the counter said, "We're hearing all kinds of stuff. But right now we don't have any comment and were not giving out any information."

Roof was arrested in February after he unnerved employees working at a Columbia shopping mall by asking unusual questions about staffing levels and closing times, according to what mall employees told police.

According to a Columbia Police Department incident report, a police search of Roof found an unlabeled bottle filled with strips of Suboxone, an opioid painkiller that is sometimes misused by people addicted to drugs such as oxycodone or heroin.

The incident report said Roof tried to pass the strips off as breath fresheners before admitting that a friend had given him the prescription drug. An officer arrested Roof for possession of a controlled substance.

The case appeared to still be pending, according to county court records.

The drug charge did not automatically disqualify Roof from buying a gun as it is only a misdemeanor in South Carolina, legal experts say.

Federal law prohibits the sale of a gun to anyone who unlawfully uses or is addicted to a controlled substance, a question that Roof would have had to answer on an over-the-counter federal firearms purchase form, said David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami now in private practice.

But in Roof's case "there may have been insufficient evidence available to the seller to deny his purchase," Weinstein added.

(Writing by David Adams; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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