Dylann Roof AR-15: Charleston Church Shooter ‘Wanted Even More Ability To Kill’

Before he killed nine people at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Dylann Roof was hoping to get his hands on an AR-15 in the hopes that he could possibly take out more. That’s according to a field interview document that was recently released by the Columbia Police Department.

According to the State, Roof was spotted with a forearm grip for an AR-15 and several 40-round magazines during a routine traffic stop in Columbia on March 13 of this year. Roof had told the officer that he was looking to purchase an AR-15, but he did not have enough money for one. No charges were brought against Dylann Roof, since it is not a crime to possess the clips and AR-15 forearm grip.

The report stated that Dylann Roof had changed his statement several times during the interview process, according to WIS.

“The subject stated he was sitting at the park because he is not allowed to stay at home when his father is not present. The subject later contradicted his original statement by saying he could have stayed home, but did not want to.”

Democratic Representative Joe Neal of Richland, South Carolina, said if Roof was able to get a hold of an AR-15 prior to the shooting, a lot more people could have been killed.

“Roof wanted even more ability to kill than he had. This suggests to me that if he had had access to a more powerful weapon, he would have killed a lot more people.”

BREAKING NEWS: Dylann Roof wanted to buy AR-15 but was too broke. FULL STORY: http://t.co/H22GjixH9X pic.twitter.com/JETf4qiPVf

— Breaking News Feed (@PzFeed) June 26, 2015

Former U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd, who was also the director of the State Law Enforcement Division at one point, called this new report “scary.”

“We ought to be thankful [Roof] never got his hands an AR-15.”

Dylann Roof had been arrested on drug charges two weeks prior to this traffic stop. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Roof was loitering at the Columbiana Centre on February 28. Employees from the Bath and Body Works and The Shoe Dept. notified the mall’s security about Roof’s suspicious behavior, which included asking how many employees work at the stores and what time they were going to leave.

A police officer approached Dylann Roof and asked to search his vehicle. He complied, and the officer found a bottle of suboxone, a schedule III painkiller. Roof was arrested but then later released. Shortly after the March vehicle inspection in which he was spotted with the AR-15 forearm grip and 40-round clips, Roof was arrested again for violating his one-year ban from the mall, which was then extended to two years.

Dylann Roof now faces nine counts of murder for the church massacre.

[Photo by Grace Beahm-Pool/Getty Images]