Public records suggest the gunman behind the FedEx massacre was able to legally obtain two rifles, even after withdrawing another last year, because he never had a competition hearing.
Under Indiana’s so-called “red flag law,” authorities are supposed to call for judicial intervention when they confiscate weapons and believe that returning them to a person would be a threat, with the goal of keeping guns out of the way. wrong hands.
The measure is also known as the “Jake Laird Act,” in memory of an Indianapolis police officer who was killed by a mental man after his weapons were returned to him.
But Brandon Hole, the 19-year-old who was behind the bloodbath on Thursday at the FedEx facility where he worked in Indianapolis, apparently was never the subject of such a hearing, although he had been involved. in a gun case amid mental problems the FBI brought last year, according to records.
Indianapolis authorities told The Post on Sunday that they are investigating the situation.
“We are studying this matter and will be in touch with more information as soon as possible,” a spokesman for the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said.
On March 3, 2020, Hole was stripped of a new shotgun when his mother called 911 saying he expressed a desire to commit suicide with police, the Indy Star reported.
A police record of the incident indicates that police officers confiscated a shotgun from a “dangerous person” and that Hole was arrested for immediate mental health arrest, the media reported.
Under the state’s “red flag law,” police officers are supposed to file an affidavit in court when a firearm is taken, explaining why the person holding it is dangerous, according to state police instructions. of Indiana.
The gun owner is entitled to a hearing no later than 14 days after confiscation if he wants to fight his case.
After a hearing, if the court decides that the person is dangerous, law enforcement is allowed to keep the firearm and the gun owner’s license is suspended and he or she can no longer legally possess a weapon. , according to police.
If the court does not find a probable cause, the firearms must be returned within five days.
Police have said Hole’s shotgun was never returned to him, although there is no public court record to show that he went before a judge between March 3 last year and the shooting of the week. past. Hole legally bought two rifles, authorities said.
It is unclear whether police ever filed an affidavit in court as requested or whether Hole was ever scheduled for a competition hearing.
The COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning to disrupt the judicial process around the time it would have been in line.
The head of the Indianapolis metropolitan police department, Randal Taylor, told the New York Times that authorities did not consider Hole to be subject to the “red flag law,” although in the police report he was called a dangerous person.
The chief said he was not sure if the teenager ever had an audience or how his department maintained possession of his shotgun.
“I don’t know how we held up,” Taylor told the dam.
