DALLAS _ A Lubbock man who illegally sold an AR-15-style rifle to the gunman who went on a deadly rampage last year across two West Texas cities has pleaded guilty to two federal charges, authorities announced Wednesday.
Marcus Anthony Braziel admitted to dealing firearms without a license and falsifying a tax return, U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox said at a news conference.
Authorities said last year that they had identified a man who they suspected illegally manufactured and sold a gun to 36-year-old Seth Aaron Ator. They did not release his name at the time.
According to court documents, authorities seized 29 guns from Braziel's home in July. A forfeiture complaint notes that "on or about October 8, 2016, Braziel sold an Anderson AM-15 rifle, serial number ending in 0756, to 'S.A.', a resident of Odessa, Texas."
Ator had been prohibited from purchasing a gun because of an unspecified "mental health issue," officials said. When he attempted to buy a firearm in January 2014, he was blocked by a federal background check.
The morning of the shooting, Ator had been fired from his job at Journey Oilfield Services. He and his employer both called 911 afterward, but he had left the business by the time police arrived.
Ator also called the FBI's tip line about 15 minutes before the shooting spree began, making "rambling statements about some of the atrocities he felt he had gone through," according to Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs. He did not make any threats, Combs said.
When state troopers attempted to stop Ator shortly after 3 p.m. for failing to signal a lane change on Interstate 20, he fired an assault-style rifle out his vehicle's rear window, striking one trooper.
Ator proceeded to drive between Midland and Odessa, firing seemingly at random. At one point he abandoned his vehicle and hijacked a postal truck, killing the worker inside.
Authorities eventually disabled the mail truck by ramming it with an SUV outside an Odessa movie theater. Officers fatally shot him outside the theater after he fired at them.
Excluding the gunman, seven people were killed and 25 more wounded during the rampage. Relatives of the victims have sued Braziel and a Kentucky gunmaker, seeking more than $1 million in damages.
