FBI Asks Judge to Dismiss Lawsuit Over South Carolina Church Shooting

Dylann Roof
Dylann Roof

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI is urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges the bureau should have prevented Dylan Roof from purchasing a gun that was used in last summer’s South Carolina church massacre.

The FBI argues it was unable to take action because of state and federal limits on background checks and local errors in record-keeping, ABC News reports. 

Roof, who is white, shot nine black parishioners inside Emanuel AME Church on June 17, 2015, with a .45-caliber handgun. Family of the victims argue in the lawsuit that Roof was barred from purchasing the gun because of a prior drug arrest.

The FBI responded to the lawsuit Friday, saying FBI negligence was not a factor.

“The shooting at the Emanuel AME Church was an atrocity of unspeakable proportions. The perpetrator’s actions were despicable,” attorneys for the government wrote. “But the United States is not liable in tort for the tragic death of plaintiff’s decedent.”

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