Gun used to kill four in Michigan high school purchased by suspect’s father during Black Friday shopping trip
The semiautomatic handgun used to kill four teens and wound eight other people inside a Michigan high school was purchased days earlier on Black Friday by the student suspect’s father, police said.
The alleged shooter, identified only as a 15-year-old sophomore, used a 9-mm. Sig Sauer pistol to carry out the attack on Tuesday inside Oxford High School. Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard told reporters the gunman fired at least 12 rounds before he was apprehended in a hallway, his still-loaded firearm in hand.
Bouchard added that he believes the arrest “interrupted what could have been seven more victims.”
The weapon was purchased on one the busiest shopping days of the year, just four days before the massacre, according to authorities. The suspect’s father said he purchased a total of three magazines, two of which have been recovered. Bouchard added that deputies are still processing the scene but have not yet found the final 15-round mag.
Bouchard did not say where exactly the handgun was purchased nor whether it was a new weapon or previously owned by someone else. It also remained unclear how exactly the shooter got his hands on the semiautomatic firearm or how he got it into the school.
Investigators suspect he stuffed the gun inside his backpack, which was later flagged by police dogs.
According to Michigan gun laws, it is illegal for someone younger than 18 to possess a gun in public in the state. What’s more, it’s illegal to carry a concealed gun, and many school districts in the state also ban open carry.
Police in wake of the shooting were also seen seizing a number of weapons — including several that appeared to be long guns — from the suspect’s home in Oxford on Tuesday night.
