Train Rampage Gun Bought at Signal Hill Store

The pistol used to kill five people and injure 18 others on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train was purchased by the suspect at a sporting goods chain store in Signal Hill last spring, federal officials said Wednesday.

Colin A. Ferguson, a legal U.S. resident born in Jamaica, apparently filled out all the necessary paperwork while purchasing the Ruger P-89 semiautomatic pistol at the Turner’s Outdoorsman store, waiting the 15 days required under California law before picking up the gun, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

But whether the Long Beach motel address given by Ferguson was his legal address at the time--as is required by law--and whether the California driver’s license he submitted as identification was obtained just to buy the 9-millimeter gun have yet to be determined, the agents said.

Employees at the Royal Motel said that Ferguson, 35, first stopped by the place in February or March.

“He came here to ask how much” a room cost, Nick Bhakta, the motel’s day manager, said Wednesday.

Bhakta said that Ferguson didn’t take a room, but when he left a few minutes later, he took with him a business card containing the motel’s address in the 3700 block of Long Beach Boulevard. Officials said Ferguson apparently used the information on that card to obtain the driver’s license from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The motel manager said that Ferguson returned a few weeks later, moving in April 22 and staying at the motel for three weeks while looking unsuccessfully for work. His room in the modest but tidy motel cost him $160 for the first week and $140 a week thereafter.

Bhakta said that Ferguson, who paid for his room with cash, said he was from Louisiana.

Employees at the sporting goods store in the 2200 block of East Willow Street said that Ferguson came in on April 23 to arrange for the purchase of the gun. He picked the weapon up on May 9.

According to ATF agents, the gun was first sold by the manufacturer, Ruger, to the Western Hoegee Co., a firearms wholesaler in Glendale, on March 5. Eight days later the wholesaler sold the weapon to Turner’s Outdoorsman, a chain based in Chino.

The pistol was shipped to the Turner’s outlet in Signal Hill, where it was placed on sale for about $300.

“It’s a well-made American gun, your standard, all-purpose sidearm,” said a Turner’s employee who asked not to be identified.

Terry Fotheringham, manager of the Signal Hill store, said that Ferguson made a down payment for the gun when he first came in. Ferguson apparently raised no suspicions, Fotheringham said, and none of the clerks at the store--which handles up to 500 customers a day--remembers him.

“If somebody looks suspicious or intoxicated, we’re not going to sell them a gun,” Fotheringham said.

Under existing federal law, there is no waiting period on handgun purchases. In California, a buyer must wait 15 days before picking up a handgun.

During the waiting period, the state Department of Justice processes a record of sale submitted by the dealer to see if the applicant has a criminal record. Ferguson apparently did not.

“Our guys went to the letter of the law,” Fotheringham said.

“Obviously, the guy never had a record.”