Lake Stevens, WA drive by shooting, and things that seem incredibly odd to me.

CarlMc · Jul 3, 2013

Suspect in drive-by killing appears in court | HeraldNet.com - Local news

Some 27 year old Boeing Everett employee goes on a drive by shooting spree, killing a young girl in Lake Stevens.

The more I read that and similar articles, as well as a link to the police report (sorry, couldn't find it, perhaps someone can help?) I learned the following things:

The investigation found .30 carbine bullets at the scene, and the rifling suggested an M1, a Ruger Blackhawk (never even knew .30 Carbine was available in a revolver) and a few other firearms I don't remember. That's about the last caliber I would expect to be used at a drive by. Turns out that the weapon used was the Ruger. Does anyone else find that choice as odd as I do?

The police go to the Cabelas store at Tulalip, north of Everett, and get a list of recent customers who purchased firearms that had rifling which matched the bullets found. This has me struggling with the legality of this, and I asked someone at a range pro shop about this very thing today. He said that all they are required to provide is a copy of the 4473 once a particular serial number is provided. Now I haven't purchased firearms at Cabelas because it looks like a royal pain and I don't feel like spending an afternoon sitting around in the crowd, so could someone who understands how Cabelas manages their gun sale progress explain to me how this is possible/legal and will stand up in court?

After jumping through the usual investigative hoops, apparently this fellow's name on the list of customers was the key detail, and based on that they tracked him down.

I'm troubled by the Cabelas connection. I don't imagine that it's required of Cabelas to provide this information, but apparently they felt confortable doing it, and since they have a more complex sales process, the listing information I suppose could be compelled by court order.

Provincial · Jul 4, 2013

If the gun was a Ruger and bought recently, my guess is that it was a Mini 30 in 7.62x39. It would be a classic for this to be reported as ".30 carbine" the way the press gets facts wrong. It's a wonder they didn't call it an assault rifle.

unklekippy · Jul 4, 2013

A single action revolver was used in a drive-by? Was he on a horse-driven buggy? I have never heard of such a thing before. As far as the background check paperwork being turned over, I would hope the police had a search warrant. If I found out that my name and any other info was given to police simply because I purchased a gun that fit the description, I would never buy from that dealer again and I would do everything in my power to be sure that all my friends and family never shopped there either. The idea that a warrant isn't necessary is exactly why the police state needs to be reigned in. We are free or we are not. There is no middle ground.

CarlMc · Jul 4, 2013

Provincial said:
If the gun was a Ruger and bought recently, my guess is that it was a Mini 30 in 7.62x39. It would be a classic for this to be reported as ".30 carbine" the way the press gets facts wrong. It's a wonder they didn't call it an assault rifle.

The police report was specific about the.30 carbine and Ruger Blackhawk, and yes, the reporter was struggling to write something that for firearms was difficult, much less the bizarre nature of things.

I keep looking for the link to the police report, but can't find it.

Cuthbert Allgood · Jul 4, 2013

The thing that isn't surprising to me is it's some Boeing employee. Boeing seems to hire weirdos from all walks of life, including farm animal ranches.............

Redcap · Jul 4, 2013

Cuthbert Allgood said:
The thing that isn't surprising to me is it's some Boeing employee. Boeing seems to hire weirdos from all walks of life, including farm animal ranches.............

TCOV · Jul 5, 2013

In the state of WA handguns sales thru an ffl are registered at the state level. I don't remember which department. If police can take a pistol serial number in WA and get the name of the purchaser if the sale was thru an ffl in WA then I would guess they could take the name of a suspect and use the same database to find what handguns he had purchased from an ffl in WA. From there they would go to the ffl with a warrant and access the sale records. Of course we don't know all the evidence the police had and the order it was acquired. The Blackhawk in 30 carbine is fairly common and it seems he had 30m1 carbines so having a pistol in that caliber wouldn't be much of a stretch. Who knows what a drunk driving around with guns in his car to shoot over the weekend is thinking? I bash the police when they deserve it but this looks like some very good detective work to me.

CarlMc · Jul 5, 2013

TCOV said:
In the state of WA handguns sales thru an ffl are registered at the state level. I don't remember which department. If police can take a pistol serial number in WA and get the name of the purchaser if the sale was thru an ffl in WA then I would guess they could take the name of a suspect and use the same database to find what handguns he had purchased from an ffl in WA.

As I read the police reports and assorted statements (which weren't very specific in this regard, despite great specificity elsewhere,) they went to Cabelas and got a list of folks who had recently bought firearms chambered in .30 Carbine with the same rifling. They did NOT have a serial number at that point, just a caliber and rifling. I really want to learn how this could be; I'm confused.

And if someone has the link to the police report, I would really appreciate it.

hermannr · Jul 5, 2013

I would expect that the news report is incorrect/incomplete. I would also that LE did it "by the book" so there would be no questioning the value of the evidence on an appeal.