Pawn shop says it sold handgun to Copley shooter

AKRON, Ohio - A northeast Ohio pawn shop says it sold a handgun last week to a man who authorities say shot and killed seven people before dying in a shootout with police.

Owner Tom Sydmor of Sydmor's Jewelry in Barberton told the Akron Beacon Journal nothing seemed unusual about 51-year-old Michael Hance when he came into the store five days before Sunday's rampage. The newspaper reports that since Hance had no criminal record, he easily cleared a federal background check and took immediate possession of a .45-caliber weapon.

“There was nothing here that would have had any of us suspect anything,” Sydmor said.

Police say federal authorities have been tracing two handguns linked to Hance

Neighbors in the Akron suburb where the shootings occurred say the violence stemmed from a dispute over the home where Hance lived with his longtime girlfriend, who was shot but survived.