WDBJ7 Roanoke News and Weather NRV Lynchburg Danville | Gun shop owner wasn't suspicious of shooter
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A Roanoke gun shop owner says Cho Seung-Hui didn't send off any red flags when he came in five weeks ago to purchase a gun.
It turned out that was the same gun Cho used in the Virginia Tech shootings.
The gunshop owner said it was a gun receipt found on Cho that led authorities to his shop yesterday.
He didn't even remember Cho, but his records showed Cho passed all the neccesary paperwork to buy the gun. He also purchased a box of practice ammunition.
John Markell, owner of Roanoke Firearms, says Cho did not seem nervous at all in purchasing the gun. Markell says Cho had knowledge of the gun, and it was just a typical sale.
Markell says his store turns down people all the time if they appear suspicious, but everything with Cho checked out.
He passed a background check and showed his drivers license, check book, and I.N.S. card. He even bought the gun with his credit card.
Markell says if they see a resident alien with a credit card, that's a good indication that they are a good, upstanding member. He says that's not someone one would expect to go on a shooting spree.
But five weeks after purchasing a Glock 19 from Roanoke Firearms, Cho did just that killing 32 people.
Markell is concerned about the implications this will have on gunowners and gunshops like his.
He says it's so easy to blame an object for the destruction caused by a human being. Markell says if Cho did not have that particular gun, he would've used something else.
Markell wonders what would've happened if Tech had a different policy allowing students to carry guns on campus. He wonders if someone could've stopped him.
Markell says he's not sure if Cho had been in the store prior to purchasing the gun. But, he did say this was the first time Cho had ever bought a gun from the shop.
