Suspect In WV Sheriff Shooting Legally Ineligible To Own Guns

Associated Press

Updated Fri, Apr 12, 2013 3:42 pm

A prosecutor says a man accused of killing a West Virginia sheriff bought several guns - not just one - after he had been determined legally ineligible to own them.

Mingo County Prosecutor Michael Sparks says the purchases were made after February 2010, when 37-year-old Tennis Maynard was deemed ineligible. Sparks hasn't said why Maynard wasn't allowed to own a gun, but the suspect's father says Maynard had mental problems and had been institutionalized.


But a state database that shares such information with a national background-check system wasn't operational until January 2011. Sparks says Maynard's purchases were made before then, including the weapon allegedly used to shooting Sheriff Eugene Crum in Williamson.