The family called for the gun to be taken away before the school shooting. The police had few options

The family of Orlando Harris has urged Missouri police to confiscate the vest, ammunition and AR-15 rifle from the 19-year-old boy. They knew that his mental health was fragile after he tried to kill himself more than once. But the best officials can do in a state with far-reaching gun rights is suggest Harris keep the weapon in storage.

Nine days later, Harris walked into his former school of St. Louis and said, “You will all die.”

A new 456-page police report details efforts by Harris' family to try to take his gun days before he entered Central Visual Arts and Performing Arts High School on Oct. 24, 2022, when he killed a student and the school. the teacher injured seven others before he was shot dead by the police.

Missouri is not among the 21 states with a red flag law. Also known as extreme risk protection orders, red flag laws are intended to restrict the purchase of firearms or temporarily remove them from people who may harm themselves or someone else.

The case highlights how difficult it is for law enforcement to restrict access to guns, even when there are signs that something is amiss.

After the military killed 18 people in October 2023 in Lewiston, Maine, an investigation found missed opportunities to intervene in the shooter's mental crisis. And before a 14-year-old was charged in this fall's deadly shooting at his Georgia high school, a deputy spoke to him about an online threat and the family warned of a “major emergency.”

The investigative report on Harris' case shows that he first tried to kill himself in the fall of 2021, just before he went to college. The disruption of the pandemic, the arrest of a friend in a murder case and a car accident all may have contributed to his depression, his family and former manager told investigators.

The police report does not say anything about his college education. Instead, he worked in a cafeteria at the high school, where he sometimes discussed guns with his colleagues.

The following August he met with a resident of Washington University Psychiatry, who told him he was thinking about shooting people at his old school. He said those thoughts lasted just one night and went away, and there was no planning and he didn't want to do it.

But soon after, Harris began to count down to the shooting. His plans included detailed maps of the school and a targeting system for teachers, students and the LGBTQ community. He had plans to burn down his house from the inside.

A psychiatrist prescribed medication, but Harris did not fill the prescriptions. The report says that they have made an emergency plan.

Washington University did not immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Harris then stopped showing up for appointments.

On October 8, he tried to buy a gun from a licensed dealer in St. Charles, Missouri, but the job was blocked by an FBI background check. The report did not say why, and police did not respond to an email from the AP. The FBI simply provides a list of 12 reasons for denial without further details.

Then on October 10, Harris drove to a nearby location to pay a man $580 for the gun used in the shooting.

Harris's family became very worried on October 15, when two packages arrived from gun and ammunition suppliers. One of her sisters, Noneeka Harris, opened them and found a body armor vest, magazine pouches and magazines. He then searched his bedroom and found a gun inside an old television box.

Harris' mother, Tanya Ward, called BJC Mental Health Services and staff there “treated this situation as an immediate threat.” They advised her to take the items to the police department and tell the police about her son's mental illness.

The officers at the station told him that they could not take the gun because Harris was of legal age to carry one. They told him to go home and the policeman will meet them there. When he returned, Harris was home and insisted on keeping the gun.

His mother was adamant that the gun was not in the house, so the police suggested a storage room. The report said that the police also advised him on the steps he should take so that his son appears to be mentally disturbed.

Federal law has barred mentally ill people from buying firearms since 1968, including those deemed a danger to themselves or others, held involuntarily, or found not guilty by reason of insanity or incompetence.

Eventually, the gun and other items were loaded into Harris' sister's car, including a box of ammunition that arrived the next day. He later drove his brother to the warehouse, which was 8 kilometers away from the high school.

He told police he “knew something was going to happen.”

On October 24, a gunshot rang out as Harris walked into his former high school.

It is not clear why Harris went to the school. The police remembered him as a popular person and the principal of his school said he was not abused, according to the investigation report. But as he was shooting in the dance class, one student told police he heard someone yell, “I hate this school.” I hate everybody.”

Badly injured, Alexzandria Bell first ran towards the door before collapsing to the ground, a security officer assured the 10th grader that help was on the way. But then he introduced.

Another class ran out of a window after their physical education teacher, 61-year-old Jean Kuczka, stood between them and Harris. Kuckza was killed.

Finally Harris went to the third floor, hiding in the computer area. The first officer who entered the lab had a daughter at school.

“I had lost everything,” recalled the police officer, who was among those who opened fire in the police report. He texted his daughter afterward, telling her, “I killed him.”

Harris' sister told investigators that when she heard about the shooting, she started driving to school but returned home, waking up her mother, who had worked the night before.

Harris' mother later checked her voicemail. There was a message from the hospital asking if he still needed help with his son.