Father of Washington shooter convicted on gun charges
The father of a Washington state teen who went on a deadly shooting rampage at his high school last October was convicted on Tuesday of federal gun charges, prosecutors said.
Raymond Fryberg, 42, was found guilty by a jury in Seattle on all six charges of illegal firearms possession in violation of a 2002 court protection order that barred him from obtaining guns, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Washington said in a statement.
Fryberg’s attorney, John Henry Browne, said he was disappointed at the decision and would appeal the ruling.
Among the weapons were a rifle, a shotgun and a Beretta Px4 Storm handgun. The Beretta was used by his son Jaylen Fryberg in the Oct. 24, 2014 massacre at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, about an hour’s drive north of Seattle.
The popular 15-year-old football player opened fire on a cafeteria gathering of his cousins and three close friends before taking his own life. Four of the students died and one survived.
The shooting rocked the small city of Marysville and the adjoining, close-knit community of the Tulalip Indian Reservation, of which the Frybergs are prominent members.
It also renewed national focus on gun control laws, background checks for gun buyers and school safety following a string of deadly episodes on high school and college campuses.
According to a criminal complaint, the Tulalip Tribal Court had placed Raymond Fryberg under a non-expiring domestic violence restraining order in 2002 after he was accused of assaulting and threatening his girlfriend. That injunction prohibited him from having guns, prosecutors said.
In 2013, he purchased the Beretta and four other firearms over a period of several months, according to court documents. Prosecutors say Fryberg lied on federal forms when he purchased the Beretta.
Fryberg’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 11, the attorney’s office said.