Shooter had assault-style rifle

The gunman who killed seven people in West Texas last week, was arrested in

2001 and hospital staff later determined he had ‘‘suicidal tendencies’’, according to arrest reports obtained by the Associated Press.

Seth Ator, then 18, jumped from a second-floor window to evade authorities in Waco, a city about

170 kilometres south of Dallas. He was eventually taken into custody.

It is unclear whether the events nearly two decades ago in Waco have any bearing on the mass shooting on September 1 that stretched from Midland to Odessa, some 563km away.

It also is unknown whether the hospitalisation affected a federal background check that a law enforcement official said blocked Ator from buying a gun in 2014 because of a ‘‘mental health issue’’. But reports from the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office obtained through a public records request portray a young man who was deeply troubled 18 years before authorities say he opened fire in a rolling rampage that spanned 16km.

Officers killed Ator, 36, outside a threat’’. Staff at a hospital psychiatric and drug abuse facility evaluated Ator, and an officer at the county jail was informed of Ator’s ‘‘suicidal tendencies’’ when he was moved to the jail that day, according to the reports.

Court records indicate Ator was ordered to attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings as part of his probation.

The misdemeanours themselves would not have prevented Ator from legally purchasing firearms in Texas.

Federal law stipulates a limited number of reasons why someone would be prohibited from buying or having a gun. Among them are if the person has been convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison; has a substance abuse addiction; was dishonourably discharged from the military; was convicted of domestic violence or was the subject of a restraining order; or if they have been involuntarily committed for a mental health issue.

FBI records show that in 2018 more than 26 million background checks were conducted, and fewer than 100,000 people failed. Most of those denied were for a criminal conviction. Just over 6000 were rejected for a mental health issue.