FedEx Gunman Bought 2 Rifles After Police Seized His Shotgun, Chief Says

Brandon Hole, 19, had his shotgun taken away in March 2020 after his mother raised concerns about his mental state, records show. But he was able to legally make gun purchases just months later.

INDIANAPOLIS — Brandon Hole, the 19-year-old man who the police say fatally shot eight people at a FedEx facility on Thursday night, legally purchased two semiautomatic rifles he used in the attack just a few months after the police seized a shotgun from him, the chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said on Saturday. In March 2020, the police seized a shotgun from Mr. Hole after his mother raised concerns about his mental state, records show. But, Chief Randal Taylor said, the fact that Mr. Hole was legally able to make the more recent gun purchases indicated that — despite his mother’s warning and the police seizure of a gun — the authorities had not deemed him subject to Indiana’s so-called red flag law, which bars people from possessing a firearm if they are found by a judge to present a dangerous risk. The revelation came as Indianapolis mourned the deaths of workers at the sprawling FedEx facility near the edge of city limits. The deaths, and the gunshot wounds sustained by at least seven others during a shift change on a chilly night, jolted a nation where mass killings have become commonplace.