Store may face charges for selling gun to shooter

An Academy Sports + Outdoors store in Texas sold Devin Patrick Kelley a semi-automatic rifle and large-capacity magazine after he showed a Colorado driver’s license. Kelley later used his purchases to kill more than two dozen people at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Nov. 5, 2017.

Why is the store in trouble? Federal prosecutors say the store sold the gun and magazine illegally because Kelley would not have been allowed to make the purchase in Colorado. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to add the store as a responsible third party in a lawsuit over the shooting. A spokesman for the company declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Charissa Koh’s report about how the community of Sutherland Springs responded to the tragedy.