Suspected St. Stephen’s shooter was previously warned by ATF, had missing guns

Suspected St. Stephen’s shooter Robert Findlay Smith, 70, was previously warned by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), according to a government report.

On Sept. 18, 2017, ATF agents conducted an investigation at Smith’s home, 4128 Sicard Hollow Road, which was also the name of his gun shop, Original Magazines 2. Smith had been a federally-licensed firearms dealer since March 1978.

In the report, which is public, agents found one violation with three parts. First, they found Smith did not record the sale or other disposition of a firearm within seven days of the transaction. Second, Smith could not locate firearms listed in his inventory. Lastly, he failed to record his address and/or his federal license when he acquired firearms.

The inspection period ran from September 2016 to September 2017, when agents found Smith had 86 guns on hand as opposed to 97 he listed on record, according to the report. The report states he failed to record the disposition of a redacted number of firearms, something he had been warned about in 2010.

Other than warning him his license could be revoked if the issues were not corrected, the report did not state any punishment for Smith.

Smith is charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of 84-year-old Walter “Bart” Rainey, Irondale, 75-year-old Sarah Yeager, Pelham, and Jane Pounds, 84, of Hoover.