ST PAUL, Minn. — Two people were convicted of murder for the October 2021 shootout at the Truck Park Bar in St. Paul that killed one woman, Marquisha Wiley, and wounded four others.
But a third man, Jerome Horton, was convicted in federal court for buying one of the guns used in that shooting — what's known as a straw purchase where someone buys a gun on behalf of someone else who legally cannot do so.
Horton bought 24 guns from Fleet Farm over a four-month period.
Separate from the Truck Park case, Sarah Elwood was convicted of straw gun purchases. She bought 13 guns from Fleet Farm over the course of a year. She bought multiple handguns on four different occasions.
"It really came to our attention that they negligently selling firearms," said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who used that information to sue Fleet Farm.
"Fleet Farm, we believe and we can prove, they sold 37 guns within a matter of a few months to two straw purchasers. To me, that's not being careful enough. They shouldn't have done it. I think they have a moral responsibility and I am going to prove they have legal responsibility as well," Ellison said.
As part of the discovery process in the legal case, Fleet Farm is required to turn over certain information to the plaintiff — which is the State of Minnesota.
In a hearing Tuesday, Judge John Docherty ordered Fleet Farm to provide the state with logs that show information about anyone who bought four or more handguns within a 14-day period to examine purchasing patterns.
The state had asked for more extensive sales records, but the judge and Fleet Farm expressed concern over the state having the ability to create a database of gun buyers.
"No, there's no plans to build some database," Ellison responded in an interview. "We're trying to protect people's lives. and we're going to use the discovery we got within the law, within the parameters set by the court and responsibly. Which is more than I can say for the conduct of some retailers."
Ellison updated the lawsuit to allege Fleet Farm also violated the state's gun control law — by allegedly transferring firearms to straw purchasers Fleet Farm knew or had reason to know were buying firearms for others.
With the ruling, the state will be able to take a closer look at the gun sale logs to see if there were any other straw buyers at Fleet Farm that have been missed. Then the lawsuit can proceed from there.
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