The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau has revealed new information about the nature of the weapon used in the deadly shooting Nov. 14 at Saugus High.
“The report on the firearm indicates that the handgun used in the assault was not manufactured conventionally, and may be some form of a ‘kit gun,’” Homicide Lt. Brandon Dean said in a statement released to The Signal.
The gun was “assembled by a consumer rather than a manufacturer, from pieces bought separately,” he added.
Sheriff’s Department officials did not release any information regarding how the gun was acquired or assembled by Nathaniel Berhow, who shot five other students, killing two of them, before turning the gun on himself.
“We have no evidence to indicate who assembled it or bought the components,” Dean’s statement said.
Officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, who are assisting the Sheriff’s Department in the investigation, were not immediately available Thursday.
Nathaniel’s father, Mark Vincent Berhow, who died of a heart attack in December 2017, was an avid hunter who owned at least a half-dozen firearms, sources previously told The Signal.
Sheriff’s officials have interviewed dozens of people during the course of their investigation; however, no official information regarding a possible motive in the shooting has been confirmed by authorities.
Dean was not immediately available Thursday to answer questions regarding the status of the investigation.
