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When the Annunciation shooter purchased a gun from Frontiersman Sports in St. Louis Park a week prior to the shooting, she did so without any issue. 

On Friday’s Morning Edition, Frontiersman Sports manager Chris Mercadante said he often thinks about how to improve as a business, but doesn’t believe he could have stopped Robin Westman. 

“How can we spot evil? You just can’t sometimes,” he said.

Although the gun Westman bought wasn’t used in the shooting, it brings up questions about how she was able to acquire it in the first place. 

While Mercadante wasn’t there on the day she purchased the gun, he said Westman’s behavior was nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing triggered their training to prevent her from obtaining the weapon. 

“There was nothing that I could see, that we could do, that would sit there and point out that this person was going to do something as evil as this,” he said. “There’s no policy I can change that’s going to detect evil.”

Listen to the full conversation with Mercadante by clicking the player above.

Crime, Law and Justice

Shows

Morning Edition

NewsPartners

On Air

Annunciation Catholic Church and School shooting

Cathy Wurzer

Host

Lukas Levin

Author

Robin Westman purchased a gun at Frontiersman Sports in St. Louis Park. She didn’t set off any “red flag” triggers under the state’s new law. 

Manager of gun shop says Annunciation shooter didn’t set off any red flags

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