Jail clerical error let alleged Charleston shooter Dylann Roof buy gun

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 13 July 2015

A county jail employee entering incorrect information into a South Carolina arrests database allowed alleged Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof to buy the gun apparently used in the attack, The Associated Press reports. The error was corrected two days after Roof was arrested Feb. 28 on charges of drug possession, Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said Monday, but the correction wasn't sent to the State Law Enforcement Division, which the FBI uses for gun purchase background checks.

Before an examiner conducting the background check could get ahold of the arrest record, a waiting period had elapsed, and the purchase went through. The FBI said last week that given his previous drug possession charge, Roof should not have been able to buy a gun.

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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.

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