Same gun dealer sold to two campus killers

US: The online gun dealer who sold a weapon to the Virginia Tech gunman said it was an unnerving coincidence that he also sold handgun accessories to the man who killed five students at Northern Illinois University.

Eric Thompson said his website sold two empty 9mm Glock magazines and a Glock holster to Steven Kazmierczak on February 4th, just 10 days before the 27-year-old opened fire in a classroom and killed five before committing suicide.

Another website run by Mr Thompson's company also sold a Walther .22-calibre handgun to Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people last April on the Virginia Tech campus before committing suicide.

"I'm still blown away by the coincidences," Mr Thompson said.

"I'm shaking. I can't believe somebody would order from us again and do this."

His Green Bay-based company shipped the order last Monday and records of the sale show Kazmierczak received the order a day later.

Kazmierczak carried a shotgun and three handguns into the classroom last Thursday but Mr Thompson said he had no idea whether the gunman used the holster or magazines bought on the website.

Each magazine can hold 33 bullets, Mr Thompson said.

He said his site did not sell Kazmierczak any bullets or guns.

Kazmierczak bought two of the weapons used in the shooting - the pump-action Remington shotgun and a Glock 9mm handgun - legally on February 9th in Champaign, Illinois, where he was a student.

Mr Thompson said that he checked his sales records after the name of the gunman was made public last Friday and contacted the authorities within five minutes of realising the latest connection.

"I still feel just absolutely in shock," he said.

"I feel like I was run over by a truck." - (AP)

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times