Mentally Disabled Killer of 7 Bought Rifle Legally

A printing plant worker disabled by mental illness was able to legally buy the AK-47 assault rifle he used to kill seven former co-workers without disclosing his mental problems, authorities said Friday.

Police said that Joseph T. Wesbecker was armed with several semiautomatic weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition Thursday as he went from floor to floor at the Standard Gravure Corp.

Wesbecker killed seven people and injured 15 before killing himself. Three of the injured were in critical condition Friday.

Wesbecker bought the AK-47 on May 1 at Tilford’s Gun Sales in Louisville, Police Chief Richard Dotson said.

Gun shop owner Jack Tilford said Wesbecker answered all eight questions properly on the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms gun purchase form.

“He passed all the tests and obligations for purchasing firearms,” Tilford said Friday.

One of the eight questions asked: “Have you ever been adjudicated mentally defective or have you ever been committed to a mental institution?”

The form shows that Wesbecker answered ‘no’ to that question. Tilford noted that gun shop owners have no way to check the validity of answers to that question.

Lt. Jeff Moody, police homicide commander, has said that Wesbecker had spent time--voluntarily--in mental institutions, including Our Lady of Peace in Louisville. Police would not disclose when he had been hospitalized.

Bill Curley, agent in charge of the Louisville ATF office, said federal law prohibits firearms purchases only by people who have been committed to a mental health facility under court order.

Wesbecker, 47, was a pressman at the plant until the company placed him on permanent disability leave last year because of mental illness, police said. Relatives told police that Wesbecker was a manic depressive who had attempted suicide three times.