Gunman in FedEx shooting legally purchased assault rifles used in attack, police say

The gunman in the Indianapolis shooting who killed eight people at a FedEx facility on Thursday before taking his own life legally bought the two assault rifles used in the attack, police said Saturday.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said Brandon Hole, 19, was a former employee of the facility and used weapons purchased in July and September to carry out the act despite red flags meant to prevent such a purchase.

Authorities did not say where the alleged shooter bought both the guns used in the attack.

The FBI said Friday it had interviewed the suspected gunman last year, after his mother called police to say that her son might be a danger to himself and the community.

A police report obtained by The Associated Press shows that officers seized a pump-action shotgun from Hole’s home after that call and did not return it.

Indiana has a “red flag law” allowing police or courts to seize guns from people who show warning signs of violence. The law is intended to prevent people from purchasing or possessing a firearm if they are found by a judge to present “an imminent risk” to themselves or others.

Authorities have two weeks after seizing someone’s weapon to argue in court that the person should not be allowed to possess a gun, according to the law. Officials have not said whether a judge made a red flag ruling in Hole’s case.

The FedEx shooting marks the third high-profile shooting in Indianapolis this year. In January, five people, including a pregnant woman, were shot dead in the city's northeast side. And in March, a man fatally shot three adults and a child at a home in a dispute over a stimulus check, police said.

At least four of the people killed in Thursday’s mass shooting were members of Indianapolis’ Sikh community.

Authorities have not yet released a motive for the attack.