West Texas shooter failed background check after being adjudicated 'a mental defective,' sources say
The West Texas man who killed seven people and wounded 25 in a shooting rampage failed a background check during an attempted firearm purchase in 2014 because he had earlier been adjudicated "a mental defective" and temporarily committed to an institution, three law enforcement sources told CNN on Wednesday.
Seth Ator, 36, had been committed to an unidentified institution in McLennan County in 2006 because he was deemed a danger to himself and/or others, according to one source.
The commitment occurred more than a decade ago, a second source said.
Still, Ator managed to buy the firearm used in Saturday's mass shooting within the last couple of years, according to a third source.
Police said Ator used an AR-15-style rifle in the killing spree in and around Odessa.
"A mental defective" is a term used in federal law to describe one category of people prohibited from purchasing or owning a firearm.
He had bought the weapon used in the rampage in a private sale, which doesn't require a background check, a law enforcement official previously told CNN.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/west-texas-shooter-failed-background-check-after-being-adjudicated-a-mental-defective-sources-say/ar-AAGOptk?li=BBnb7Kz
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