Arizona man charged over selling ammo to Vegas gunman
CHANDLER (AP) — An Arizona man who sold ammunition to the gunman who carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern United States history was charged last Friday with manufacturing armor-piercing bullets, according to court documents.
Unfired armor-piercing bullets found inside the Las Vegas hotel room where Stephen Paddock launched the Oct. 1 attack had the fingerprints of ammunition dealer Douglas Haig, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Phoenix. It said Haig did not have a license to manufacture armor-piercing ammunition.
Haig has acknowledged selling 720 rounds of tracer ammunition to Paddock in the weeks before the shooting that killed 58 people. Tracer bullets contain a pyrotechnic charge that illuminates the path of fired bullets so shooters can see whether their aim is correct.
The criminal charge involves another type of ammunition — armor-piercing bullets.
The documents did not say if any ammunition tied to Paddock was used in the attack. Las Vegas police would not say whether armor-piercing bullets were used in the shooting but referred to a prelimi- nary report saying some rifle magazines were loaded with armor-piercing ammunition.
Haig, a 55-year-old aerospace engineer who sold ammunition as a hobby for about 25 years, was charged 35 minutes before holding a news conference where he said he did not notice anything suspicious when he sold the tracer rounds to Paddock.
Haig told investigators that when Paddock bought the ammunition at his home in suburban Phoenix, Paddock went to his car to get gloves and put them on before taking the box from Haig, the complaint said.
A phone message left for Haig’s attorney, Marc Victor, wasn’t immediately returned.