Family advocated for gun to be confiscated before ’22 school shooting

Orlando Harris’ family begged Missouri police to seize the 19-year-old’s body armor, ammunition and AR-15 rifle. They knew his mental health was fragile after more than one suicide attempt. But the best thing officers can do in a state with the most expansive gun rights is to suggest Harris keep the gun in a storage facility.

Nine days later, Harris went to his former high school in St. Louis and declared, “You’re all going to die.”

A new 456-page police report details Harris’ family’s efforts to take his gun in the days before he walked into Central Visual and Performing Arts High School on Oct. 24, 2022, when he murdered a student and a teacher. and injured seven others before he was fatally shot by police.

Missouri is not among the 21 states with a red flag law, which restricts or temporarily deprives gun purchases from people who could hurt themselves or someone else.

The report shows that the first time Harris attempted suicide was in the fall of 2021, just before he was set to enter college. Pandemic disruptions, a friend’s arrest in a murder case and a car accident may all have contributed to his depression, his family and former boss told investigators.

The police report does not mention that he went to college. Instead, he worked in the cafeteria of a retirement home, where he sometimes discussed guns with colleagues.

The following year, Harris began counting down to the shooting. His plans include detailed maps of the school and a plan focused on teachers, students and the LGBTQ community. He also had plans to burn down his family’s house with them inside.

On October 8, 2022, he attempted to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer in St. Charles, Missouri, but the transaction was blocked by an FBI background check. The report does not explain why.

On October 10, Harris drove to a nearby suburb to pay a man $580 in cash for the rifle used in the shooting.

Harris’ family became more concerned on October 15, when two packages arrived from gun and ammunition suppliers. One of his sisters, Noneeka Harris, opened them and found a body armor, magazine holsters and magazines. She then searched his bedroom and found the gun.

Harris’ mother, Tanya Ward, called BJC Mental Health Services. Employees advised her to take the items to the police station.

Police told her they could not take the firearm because Harris was of legal age to own it. They told her to go home and an officer would meet them there. By the time she returned, Harris was home and insisted he keep the gun.

His mother was convinced the gun wasn’t in the house, so the officers suggested a storage area. According to the report, the officers also advised her on the steps she needed to take to have her son considered mentally unstable. Federal law has prohibited some mentally ill people from purchasing guns since 1968.

Ultimately, the firearm and other items were loaded into the trunk of Harris’ sister’s vehicle, including a box of ammunition that arrived the next day. Later, she drove her brother to a storage facility about five miles from the high school.

She told police she “knew something was going to happen.”

On October 24, shots rang out as Harris entered his former high school.