The gun used in the Saugus High School shooting is an unregistered âghost gun,â perplexing investigators as they hunt for answers.
Last week, Nathaniel Berhow, 16, shot and killed two classmates and injured three others before he shot himself in the head using a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun. Some of the first questions authorities had were where Berhow got the gun.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said the gun itself is revealing no answers as it doesnât have a serial number and is not registered. The weapons, known as âghost gunsâ or âkit guns,â can be purchased at gun shows or online.
âTheyâre also known as an 80% gun, so 80% of it is assembled already. You get the initial 20%, and theyâre sold as a kit, and you can legally buy it, assemble the weapon yourself, and you have a gun that is not registered, and no one knows that you have it,â Villanueva said.
Berhowâs father, who is dead, had six guns registered to him, but they were lawfully removed from the house and destroyed prior to the shooting. Investigators also found an additional ghost gun during a search of Berhowâs house.
A motive has still not been established. More than 45 people who knew him have been interviewed, but why he decided to shoot up the school remains a mystery.
