|
Police Probe Idaho Shooter's Arsenal |
| Print |
|
E-mail
|
May 23, 2007
Police Probe Idaho Shooter's Arsenal
By JOHN K. WILEY Associated Press Writer
A man who went on a deadly shooting rampage with two high-powered assault rifles was supposed to have surrendered his firearms after being convicted of domestic assault, authorities said Wednesday.
But because Jason Hamilton's conviction was a misdemeanor, parole or probation officers were not required to search his home for prohibited weapons, Assistant Moscow Police Chief David Duke said.
The 36-year-old janitor fatally shot himself in a Presbyterian church early Sunday after killing his wife, a police officer and a church sexton, wounding three other men and pumping more than 100 bullets into a county courthouse, authorities said.
Hamilton used an AK-47 assault rifle and a Springfield M-1A rifle, both bought legally before he was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend in 2006, Duke said. Also in Hamilton's home — where the body of his wife, Crystal Hamilton, was found after the shootings — were a shotgun, a .22-caliber rifle and a .22-caliber handgun, Duke said.
A registered gun owner convicted of a crime such as misdemeanor domestic violence is required to transfer the weapon to someone else, said Julianne Marshall, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives.
The investigation was looking into whether the guns were registered to Jason Hamilton or his wife, Duke said. Federal officials were checking Wednesday on whether paperwork filed by a dealer was proper, he said.
Hamilton's name was placed in a national database that would have blocked attempts to purchase weapons after his conviction, but guns he bought before then would not show up, Duke said.
Marshall said she did not have information on the Hamilton case and could not comment on it.
Also Wednesday, Duke said an investigation into Hamilton's ties to the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist group formerly based in Idaho, shows he was not an active member.
Authorities who searched his home found an Aryan Nations flag, literature and an enrollment certificate that had been filled out in 2002, Duke said.
"He apparently attended a meeting and completed the certificate," Duke said. "After that date, there were no connections that we can trace."
All the victims of last weekend's shooting were white, Duke said.
|
