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Dylann Roof, arrested for drugs possession in February, should have been on a list banning him from buying weapons.
Dylann Roof, the 21-year old suspect in the shooting at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in Charleston, should not have been able to buy the gun he used to carry out the attack that killed nine people at the church, the head of the United States Federal Bureau for Investigation said Friday.
“This case rips all of our hearts out, but the thought that an error on our part is connected to a gun this person used to slaughter these people is very painful to us,” FBI Director James B. Comey, told reporters at the FBI's headquarters in Washington D.C..
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FBI now says Dylann Roof should NOT have passed background check before buying gun used #CharlestonShooting. Contradicts earlier FBI claims
— Evan Pérez (@evanperez)
July 10, 201
The bureau runs a system called the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to prevent people like Roof from purchasing firearms.
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Comey said the error in the national background check system allowed Roof to get his hands on the .45-caliber handgun, which was also appeared in his pictures.
According to reports, Roof had been charged for possessing narcotics back in February and thus should have been put in the system as a person banned from buying firearms.
Roof's records were never put in the system or have been listed under the wrong arresting agency, according to Comey.
The FBI saying Dylann Roof shouldn't have had a gun ranks alongside, "We should've investigated flight schools that didn't teach landings"
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman)
July 10, 201
Comey said the Justice Department was also going to review its policy that gives the FBI three days to determine whether someone should be denied a gun. “We are all sick this happened,” he said. “We wish we could turn back time.”
After he was arrested in June 17, Roof was charged with nine accounts of murder and additional weapon charges. This week, he has been indicted on three new attempted murder charges.
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