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(CNN) --
The 18-year-old charged in the Buffalo supermarket massacre legally obtained an AR-15-style rifle, believed to be the same weapon he would have modified as described in a lengthy racist tirade posted online earlier. of the attack.
Authorities told CNN on Tuesday that it appears there were no red flags that would have prevented the 18-year-old from obtaining the three weapons said to have been found in his possession: the one used in the attack and two guns. more in your car.
The man had been evaluated for mental health issues last year, authorities said, but these did not rise to the level of legal concern.
"Where were the alerts so he could buy these guns legally?" said Erie County Sheriff in New York, John Garcia.
“But in a case like this, the arms dealer was able to sell these weapons to this individual because no red flags came up,” Garcia added.
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In the lengthy document posted online, Payton Gendron wrote that he purchased the AR-15-style weapon at a gun store in New York.
Gendron had been taken to an emergency room for a mental health evaluation after a high school incident in which he mentioned a "murder-suicide" but was released without being involuntarily committed to a mental health clinic. , according to security agency officials.
The involuntary commitment could have resulted, if the system worked as designed, in Gendron's name being added to a list of people prohibited from purchasing weapons.
Gendron's attorney declined to comment.
Gendron is due in court this Thursday morning.
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New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the gun used was purchased legally in New York state.
Speaking to CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" on Sunday, Hochul said the weapon was an AR-15.
She said the high-capacity weapon is believed to have been purchased outside of New York.
It is not clear from Hochul's statement that he describes the weapon as an AR-15 if it is the same item listed in Gendron's document;
Police have not yet released details about the weapon or weapons used.
"The gun was purchased legally from a gun store in upstate New York, an AR-15. But what has made this so deadly and so devastating to this community, was the high-capacity magazine that should have been been purchased elsewhere, that's not legal in New York State," Hochul said.
Gendron wrote about buying and modifying an AR-15 style gun.
In New York, loaders may not have more than 10 bullets, and outside of shooting competitions, they may not have more than seven bullets in the rifle at any one time.
The AR-style gun Gendron described is not sold with the 30-round magazines common for this type of rifle, when shown for sale it is almost always shown with 30-round magazines legal in much of the United States.
Hochul said it's unclear where the shooter bought the chargers he used in the shooting.
Gendron lived just across the state line from Pennsylvania, where gun laws are more permissive.
Gendron, in his brief, said that he bought chargers at a flea market in New York, which may have been illegal, depending on when he bought them.
Gendron wrote that the AR-style rifle he purchased, due to the lock on the magazine, was legal in New York, but he later modified it to remove that lock.
At least nine states and the District of Columbia have restrictions, ranging from owning magazines that hold more than 10 or 15 rounds, to prohibiting the sale or purchase of those magazines.
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Gendron wrote that he was able to remove the lock with a drill.
Gendron also wrote about two other weapons in the document: a Mossberg 500 shotgun and a Savage Axis XP rifle.
At a news conference Monday, Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said investigators knew of three weapons, two located in his car and one carried by Gendron.
Investigators found a rifle and shotgun in the car;
CNN obtained a photo of those weapons.
Gramaglia described the weapon Gendron allegedly used as an AR-15.
The owner of Pennsylvania Guns and Ammo, a 10-minute drive across the state line from Gendron's hometown of Conklin, New York, told CNN that Gendron legally purchased a shotgun from his store in December 2021. The owner said that Gendron claimed he wanted the gun for target practice.
He said Gendron was 18 at the time of the purchase and passed all background checks at his store.
He asked not to be identified.
Gendron wrote that he acquired the AR-15-style firearm legally and modified it after the fact, an act undetectable by law enforcement or anyone else until the weapon is recovered or someone alerts them to the modification.
Robert Donald, owner of Vintage Firearms, where Gendron wrote that he purchased an AR-style rifle, did not respond to CNN requests for comment.
However, Donald told The New York Times that he sold a Bushmnaster rifle to Gendront.
Donald told the newspaper that he was "shocked" when federal investigators contacted him on Saturday about Gendron.
"I didn't know anything about it until I got the call from them. I couldn't believe it," he told the Times.
"I just can't believe it. I don't understand why an 18-year-old would do this," he added.
"I know I didn't do anything wrong, but I feel terrible about it."
Donald told the Times that he did not remember Gendron, adding that the background report showed nothing.
"He didn't stand out, because if he did, I never would have sold him the gun," Donald told the newspaper.
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The suspect was evaluated but was not involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.
Garcia, the Erie County sheriff, said the Buffalo shooting suspect was visited last year by New York State Police after he turned in a high school project on murder-suicide.
"State police came to his house at that time last year," Garcia said.
"He stayed in a facility, I'm not sure if it was a hospital or a mental health facility, for a day and a half."
Beau Duffy, a spokesman for the New York State Police, said "officers transported the student to the hospital for a mental health evaluation."
He confirmed that it was an evaluation and not an involuntary commitment, so he would not have prevented Gendron from purchasing a gun under federal law.
New York State Police officers also did not file for a "Red Flag" protection order against Gendron after the incident, which could have been another way to prevent him from buying a gun.
State police declined to comment on why they did not apply for a red flag warrant.
An officer told CNN that "the threat was general in nature and was not directed at the school or anyone in particular, and did not specifically mention shooting or firearms."
The state's Red Flag law, also known as the Extreme Risk Protection Order law, was enacted in 2019 and is designed to prevent anyone who shows signs of being a threat to themselves or others from buying or owning a firearm.
Under New York State law, certain physicians who determine that a patient is likely to "engage in conduct that could cause serious harm to himself or others" are required to report it to a county health commissioner, who can report it to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, which can stop people from buying guns and revoke gun permits.
Federal law prohibits a person involuntarily committed to a mental health facility from purchasing a gun.
It does not cover someone in a mental institution "for observation."
A mental institution includes any mental health center, hospital, or psychiatric ward of a general hospital.
New York has relatively strict laws regarding access to firearms by people with mental illness.
Data from the FBI's NICS background check database shows that, as of December 2021, there were more than 860,000 people prevented from buying a gun due to mental health issues in New York, the third-highest total, after California and Pennsylvania.
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Gendron's social media posts claim the investigation into his threat of violence last year ended when he says he told investigators his writing was something he had done "stupidly."
He was attending Susquehanna High School at the time, in Conklin, last June.
In a post, dated January 30, 2022, Gendron wrote: "Another bad experience was when I had to go to a hospital emergency room because I said the word 'murder/suicide' to an online newspaper in English class. economy".
"I got out because I got the story that I was going to drop out of class and I just stupidly wrote it. That's why I think I can still buy guns. It wasn't a joke, I wrote that because that's what I was planning to do." , according to the publication.
Gendron also claims that his mental health evaluation lasted 15 minutes after spending hours waiting in the emergency room.
CNN has reached out to the New York State Police for comment on this matter.
Investigators previously said Gendron's threat was general in nature and not specific enough to warrant further action.
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The prosecutor in the case is reviewing "all aspects" of the school threat
The district attorney in Gendron's hometown said he is reviewing "all aspects" of last year's investigation into the school threat.
"We even go back several years as to what his behavior was at the time, his relationship with his family, his relationship with the teachers and the students at the school," Broome County District Attorney Michael Korchak told CNN.
"So everything is on the table right now based on this research."
Korchak said it's "hard to say" if more should have been done in June 2021, when the suspect threatened to commit a murder-suicide at his high school.
"The New York State Police were called and went to the subject's residence in Conklin, interviewed him and took him to Binghamton General Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation," Korchak said.
"So there were no direct threats to any students or teachers."
According to Korchak, the suspect was 17 years old at the time.
He was treated, released and cleared to go back to school after that.
— CNN's Samantha Beech, Victor Blackwell, Nicki Brown, Patricia DiCarlo, Sarah Jorgensen, Laura Ly, Mark Morales, Artemis Moshtaghian, Jenn Selva, Brian Todd and Amanda Watts contributed to this report.
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