2 campus shootings, 1 gun dealer
A Green Bay-based Internet gun dealer who sold a weapon to the Virginia Tech shooter last year sold handgun accessories to the man who killed five at Northern Illinois University on Thursday.
Eric Thompson said Friday that his company sold two empty 9 mm Glock magazines and a Glock holster to Steven Kazmierczak on Feb. 4, just 10 days before the 27-year-old opened fire in a classroom and killed five before committing suicide.
"I'm still blown away by the coincidences," Thompson said. "I'm shaking. I can't believe somebody would order from us again and do this."
Thompson said it is possible Kazmierczak found out about his company's website from the publicity it received after the Virginia Tech shootings. The website's traffic increased after that shooting, he said.
Thompson said he also received many threats.
Thompson is worried the same thing will happen this time around, but decided to go public, he said, because he thought the public has a right to know as much as it can about the shooter and not feed off of rumors or lies.
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His political views differed from a transgender classmate’s, but they forged a bond that lasted a decade — until Vance seemed to pivot, politically and personally.
