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The family of the 19-year-old who killed two people in a shooting at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School in St. Loius, Missouri, took away his gun several days before the attack.
St. Louis Police Commissioner Michael Sack said the gunman's family called the police on October 15 and asked them to remove a long gun from their home.
Officers determined that Orlando Harris legally owned the gun and that they could not confiscate the weapon. Instead, a third party came and took possession of the rifle.
Officials are not sure how Harris managed to get the gun before the shooting.
"While it is not yet clear when or how the suspect came to be in possession of the firearm after this incident, we can confirm that the firearm involved in this incident is the firearm used in the shooting Monday," St. Louis Sgt. Charles Wall said.
Sack also told reporters that Harris' family was concerned about his mental health and had him admitted to a mental institution on several occasions.
Sack said that whenever his family "noticed him, kind of, stepping out of line ... they always worked to try and get him back on his medication, back into therapy, whatever it is that he needed."
"They made every effort that they felt that they reasonably could," Sack said. "I think that's why the mother is so heartbroken over the families that paid for his episode."