Indianapolis FedEx shooter purchased two assault rifles legally, even after FBI seized shotgun
The 19-year-old gunman who killed eight people at an Indianapolis FedEx facility Thursday used two legally purchased assault rifles, police said late Saturday.
Brandon Scott Hole, who died by suicide after the mass shooting, bought the weapons in July and September 2020, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced, despite the fact that the FBI had seized a gun from him months earlier after his mother reported that she feared he would try to commit “suicide by cop.”
Local police conducted a mental health check in March 2020 and Hole was arrested and placed on an immediate detention mental health temporary hold, according to the Indianapolis Star. A shotgun was seized from him and never returned.
Indiana’s “red flag” law, a version of which exists in more than a dozen states, allow a judge to ban someone who presents an “imminent risk” to himself or others from having a firearm. It’s unclear if such a hearing ever took place for Hole.
Four of Hole’s eight victims were Sikh and the local community leaders have called for this to be considered a hate crime, but police have not yet identified a motive in the massacre.
Matthew Alexander, 32; Samaria Blackwell, 19; Amarjeet Johal, 66; Jasvinder Kaur, 50; Amarjit Sekhon, 48; Jaswinder Singh, 68; Karli Smith, 19; and John Weisert, 74, were all killed.
At least five people were also injured in the shooting.
On Saturday, Hole’s family apologized for the teenager’s gruesome actions and for “the pain and hurt being felt by their families and the entire Indianapolis community.”
“We are devastated at the loss of life caused as a result of Brandon’s actions; through the love of his family, we tried to get him the help he needed,” Hole’s family told WISH. “Our sincerest and most heartfelt apologies go out to the victims of this senseless tragedy.”
