Indianapolis shooting: Police say gunman used two AR-15-style rifles in attack

April 20 (UPI) -- The 19-year-old gunman who shot and killed eight people at an Indianapolis FedEx center last week used two AR-15-style rifles that he legally bought last year, investigators said in an update Monday night.

Police said shooter Brandon Scott Hole also browsed white supremacist websites last year. The sites were spotted on Hole's computer when police went to his family's home after Hole made suicidal threats.

Authorities say Hole, a former FedEx employee, killed four people in the parking lot of the facility on Thursday night and another four inside before killing himself. He immediately began shooting at random and the rampage lasted only a few minutes, officials said last week.

Four of the eight people killed were members of the area's Sikh community. Police identified the victims last weekend.

Police are still trying to determine Hole's motive.

Indianapolis police said Monday night that Hole used an HM Defense HM15F and Ruger AR-556 in the attack. The guns do not appear to have been modified.

Through a trace of the weapons, police said Hole legally bought the HM15F last July and the AR-556 in September. Both rifles were found at the scene. Police noted that he bought the rifles a few months after officers confiscated a .410-gauge shotgun after he made suicidal threats.

Hole's mother called police in March 2020 out of concern that he was showing suicidal behavior and because he'd bought the shotgun, according to a police report. She said she was concerned that he was planning a "suicide by cop."

When officers went to the home, they found a history of white supremacist websites on Hole's computer, police said. Afterward, police put Hole in handcuffs and he became "immediately anxious" because he didn't want anyone to see what was on the computer.

Indiana's "red flag" law, which allows police to take weapons from people with mental health issues, was not pursued because of the circumstances involving Hole's shotgun, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said Monday.

Mears said the case illustrates the limitations of the red flag law, as it allows the state only 14 days to file a petition requesting a person be designated as having a violent propensity or mental instability.

Prosecutors felt they achieved the objective of the law because the shotgun had been taken from Hole's home and the family didn't want it back, Mears added.

A temporary mental health hold placed on Hole a year ago didn't prevent him from legally buying the assault rifles last summer.