The News Leader – by Harrison Keegan
The man authorities say was behind Thursday night’s mass shooting may have broken the law before he even pulled the trigger.
Gun law experts say Joseph Jesse Aldridge, 36, had likely been prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm years before the shooting spree in Tyrone.
The prohibition stemmed from Aldridge’s 2008 guilty plea to a federal gun charge.
In that case, Aldridge pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm while using marijuana, following a traffic stop by Mountain View police, federal court records show. The gun he possessed was described as a “Ruger, model 22/45, .22 caliber pistol.” He also had ammunition.
The past conviction shows he was a user or addict of a controlled substance and not allowed to carry a gun.
Aldridge was sentenced to 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release for that 2008 conviction.
Among the terms of his release, Aldridge was ordered to participate in a mental health counseling program, as well as a substance abuse treatment program.
Allison Anderman, staff attorney with the San Francisco-based Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said Aldridge would still be prohibited from possessing a firearm unless he had petitioned the attorney general for relief from that prohibition.
Authorities said Aldridge shot four cousins, three other people and then himself, but much about the man at the center of the shooting remains unknown.
Law enforcement officials said Friday that Aldridge had only minor run-ins with the law over the last few years — until Thursday, that is.
Aldridge was found dead in a still running truck in the middle of the highway at around 5:30 a.m. Friday, officials say, and they then began piecing together the horrific events of the previous night.
Authorities say Aldridge’s mother died of natural causes on Thursday night and he then used a gun to kill seven other people and himself. Investigators are still sorting though what happened and working to determine a motive.
“Among the terms of his release, Aldridge was ordered to participate in a mental health counseling program, as well as a substance abuse treatment program.”
Where they switched his substance abuse to Big Pharma, no doubt.
“Investigators are still sorting though what happened and working to determine a motive.”
Find out what meds they had him on.
EVERY shooter of the last 10 yrs or so has been in one of these state or federal mental health programs….. go research it if you don’t believe my statement………… i think the evidence is strong enough for me to state that mk-ultra is still going active and strong……they changed their method of getting patients to use the ones who are now in the mental health system. each and every one of the modern day mass-shootings/mass-murderers has been or recently came out of a mental health program. can you say: mk-ultra ver. 2.0
All those “laws” sure disarmed him!