Missouri Police Gun Exchanges Questioned

Gov. Bob Holden said Thursday that the State Highway Patrol should reconsider its practice of trading in used guns for resale following reports that one of the guns was used to kill four people in a factory shooting.

Holden, who vetoed a measure Thursday that would allow people to carry concealed weapons, said that when he learned Jonathon Russell, 25, had used a semiautomatic pistol from the Highway Patrol in Tuesday’s shooting, “it caused problems for me, that’s all I’ll say.”

Russell killed himself, and his motive remained unclear Thursday as relatives ruled out such possibilities as love interests or gambling problems.

In a statement released Thursday, Russell’s mother, Nina M. Tichelkamp, said her son wanted to be a police officer and purchased the .40-caliber Glock to use at the Missouri Sheriff’s Training Academy.

The Highway Patrol traded about 1,400 of its semiautomatic pistols starting in November through a suburban Kansas City wholesaler for about the same number of Glocks, upgraded with attachable flashlights.

One of those used pistols -- stamped with the patrol’s emblem and initials -- was resold to Russell.

On Tuesday, Russell punched his timecard at the Modine Manufacturing Co. plant, walked to his workstation and started firing. After killing four people and wounding five, Russell drove from the plant to the downtown police station, where he fired at two officers who confronted him, Jefferson City Police Capt. Jim Johnsen said.

Johnsen said an officer fired back, and Russell started to run off, then stopped and killed himself.