(Charleston Post & Courier) Relatives of the nine Emanuel AME Church shooting victims have filed multiple wrongful death lawsuits against the federal government over clerical errors that allowed the shooter to purchase the gun used in the killings. The five survivors filed similar complaints.
Accused gunman Dylann Roof, 22, should have been barred from purchasing a gun because he previously admitted using an illegal drug. However, his federally required background check wasn’t completed within the three days licensed gun dealers must wait for them.
After that window closed in April 2015, a West Columbia gun store owner sold Roof a .45-caliber Glock. Authorities say Roof used the weapon to kill nine worshippers at Emanuel’s Bible study two months later.
