The man identified as the gunman in Wednesday’s mass shooting at the Fort Hood military base in Texas purchased his gun from the same store where Major Nidal Hasan purchased a gun he used when he killed 13 people at the base in 2009, according to reports.
Law enforcement officials told CNN that Wednesday’s shooter, who has been identified in media reports as Ivan Lopez, passed a background check when he bought a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun at Guns Galore, a store in Killeen, Texas. In 2009, ABC News reported that Hasan purchased a FN Herstal Five-seveN tactical pistol from the same store in August of that year.
Army officials have said the handgun used by Lopez was not registered with the base. Lopez killed three people and wounded 16 on Wednesday before taking his own life.
Reached by phone on Thursday, Guns Galore employee Greg Ebert said questions about Lopez needed to go to the FBI.
“I’m not discussing yes, no, or otherwise,” Ebert told TPM, when asked to confirm reports that Lopez had bought a gun at the store.
The FBI referred question to the Army. An Army spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment from TPM.
Guns Galore also had a role in a thwarted plot that targeted military personnel several years ago. In July 2011, the store tipped police to a “suspicious male” who purchased gunpowder, shotgun ammunition, and a magazine for a semiautomatic handgun, leading to the arrest of Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo, CNN reported at the time. Abdo then told investigators he wanted to attack fellow soldiers at Fort Hood.
