Federal agents are closer to tracking down where Trolley Square gunman Sulejman Talovic got the .38-caliber handgun he used in his killing rampage.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have traced the gun from its manufacturer to the first purchaser and are now trying to figure out how it ended up with Talovic.
"We're trying to find the person who put that into his hands," said Lori Dyer, the resident agent-in-charge of the bureau's Salt Lake City office.
Salt Lake City police and the FBI continue to investigate a motive for the rampage but have remained tight-lipped about what they may be finding. The officers involved in the shooting rampage underwent a "tactical debriefing" Wednesday night.
"This is when we get together and talk about tactics we used during the event," said Salt Lake City police detective Robin Snyder. "What things worked and what things we believed we could do better next time."
The Deseret Morning News has also learned people who were in the mall have been brought in to the police department to be questioned again about what they witnessed.
Armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and the handgun, the 18-year-old began shooting as soon as he stepped out of his car at the Trolley Square mall Feb. 12. Using both guns, he killed five people and wounded four others before dying in a shootout with officers, police said.
Salt Lake City police would not talk about the guns on Thursday. Detectives have said Talovic had a backpack full of ammunition and a bandolier of shotgun shells around his waist. When he died, police said Talovic had more than 90 shells left.
Talovic purchased the shotgun legally Nov. 13, 2006 — five weeks after his 18th birthday. Dyer said the handgun was initially purchased out of state but she could not say when. "It has changed hands at least a couple of times," she said.
Talovic's family members insist they did not know he owned any guns. Police seized holsters for both the pistol and the shotgun when they searched his home just after the shooting.
Stacy Hanson, 53, is the only one of Talovic's victims still hospitalized. Hanson was listed in fair condition at University Hospital Wednesday.
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com