ROANOKE, VA. — Seung-hui Cho's recent purchase of the two semiautomatic handguns used in the Virginia Tech rampage was done by the book and in accordance with Virginia's firearms laws.
Cho bought one of the guns, a .22-caliber Walther P22, at JND Pawnbrokers in Blacksburg in February, a federal law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said. Cho then bought a 9-millimeter Glock Model 19 at Roanoke Firearms on March 12, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because federal law prohibits the release of information about specific gun traces.
The dealers involved did everything they were legally required to do before selling them to Cho, said Michael Campbell, special agent and spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. "As far as I know, everything was legitimate. The background checks were done. They followed all the procedures."
Under Virginia law, Cho -- a South Korean-born legal resident of the United States -- would have had to show a state driver's license issued at least 30 days before the sale, a checkbook with checks that matched the address on his license and an immigration card showing that he was living legally in the U.S.
As required, the two gun shops then contacted the Virginia State Police, which performed instantaneous criminal background checks to make sure he wasn't a felon or in violation of several other conditions. Then they took Cho's money, gave him the weapons and sent him on his way, the federal official said.
An employee at JND Pawnbrokers declined to confirm whether the shop sold Cho one of the weapons used in the worst gun rampage in U.S. history. "We're not discussing it," said the employee, who declined to give his name.
At Roanoke Firearms, Cho paid with a credit card and was out the door with the Glock the same day, the shop's owner, John Markell, said Tuesday.
Markell said he wasn't in the shop when an employee sold Cho the gun for $535; he also bought two small boxes of target ammunition.
Under Virginia law, he said, the employee could have blocked the purchase if Cho had been acting suspiciously. But Cho "didn't act fidgety; he just acted normal," Markell said he was told by the employee.
"He was about as clean-cut a kid as you ever want to see," Markell said.
"He had all the proper ID, he filled out the paperwork, we checked with the State Police and he was clear. It really was a very unremarkable sale."
