TULALIP — The father of a teen who killed four students at Marysville Pilchuck High School was arrested Tuesday on federal charges that he illegally purchased the firearm used in the shootings.
Raymond Lee Fryberg Jr., 42, allegedly bought the firearm in 2013, according to a criminal complaint.
Fryberg unlawfully owned the Beretta PX4 Storm handgun because there is a permanent order banning him from possessing firearms, the Justice Department alleged.
On Oct. 24, his son, 15-year-old Jaylen Fryberg, used the Beretta to kill four other students and himself in a Marysville Pilchuck High School cafeteria. Killed were Andrew Fryberg, 15, and Zoe Galasso, Shaylee Chuckulnaskit and Gia Soriano, all 14. Nate Hatch, 14, was critically wounded but survived.
The Justice Department alleges that Fryberg lied on forms when he bought the gun, saying that he was not subject to a protection order.
“In fact, just four months earlier, Fryberg admitted in tribal court that he had violated the protective order and thus he knew that he was subject to its terms,” U.S. attorneys allege.
When local authorities investigated the shootings, “investigators went to Fryberg’s residence and received consent to search Jaylen Fryberg’s room,” the Justice Department complaint says. “In the room the investigators saw a large gun safe which was locked. Investigators did not know at that time that (Raymond L. Fryberg Jr.) was a prohibited person with an order of protection against him and therefore, did not look inside the locked gun safe.”
Fryberg made a brief appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida in U.S. District Court in Seattle Tuesday afternoon. He is charged through a criminal complaint filed Monday. The judge explained that a grand jury has not yet convened.
“In order for a case to proceed to trial, a grand jury would have to return an indictment,” said Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle.
A detention hearing was set for Thursday to decide whether he will be released pending charges. Two issues will be discussed: the defendant’s likeliness to appear at future hearings and the safety of the community.
Fryberg was arrested early Tuesday morning at his job on the reservation, Langlie said.
If he is convicted, Fryberg could face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervision.
Fryberg remained silent during the hearing, letting his public defender, Kyana Givens, represent him. The government was represented by assistant U.S. attorney Ye-Ting Woo.
Several family members were in the courtroom. They declined to comment.
The Tulalip Tribes on Tuesday said its police department continues to coordinate with federal authorities, but declined to comment about an active investigation. The complaint detailing the allegations was written by an FBI special agent.
“Our thoughts and prayers continue to be focused on the victims, their families, and the healing of our communities impacted by the Marysville Pilchuck High School shooting on October 24, 2014,” Tulalip Tribes Chairman Herman Williams said in a statement.
“Guns in the hands of people who have demonstrated they will use violence is a dangerous mix that is prohibited by law,” acting U.S. attorney Annette Hayes said in a news release. “Our office has a long history of working with our federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement partners across Western Washington to prosecute those who illegally possess firearms. This case is part of that effort and a reminder that we are united in our commitment to get firearms out of the hands of those who pose the greatest risk to our communities.”
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, in 2002 Fryberg’s then-girlfriend asked the Tulalip Tribal Court for an order of protection, alleging that he had threatened her and had physically assaulted her.
The protection order was made permanent and had no expiration date.
In September 2012, Fryberg pleaded “no contest” to violating the protection order. He was fined and placed on probation for one year.
Less than four months later, he allegedly went to the Cabela’s Sporting Goods store on the Tulalip reservation and purchased the Beretta and, over subsequent months, four other firearms.
Fryberg filled out forms for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms &Explosives stating that he was not the subject of any court order restraining him from harassing, stalking or threatening an intimate partner or the child of a partner.
The form states that anyone subject to such an order is prohibited from purchasing a firearm.
It wasn’t immediately clear how Fryberg passed the background check and was allowed to purchase the gun.
A spokesman for Cabela’s said on Tuesday that the store’s records “indicate the transaction was processed in compliance with the applicable regulations, including background checks.”
The firearms case was investigated by the FBI and the Tulalip Tribal Police Department.
Democratic state Sen. John McCoy, a member of the Tulalip Tribes, said he didn’t know Fryberg had been subject to a restraining order.
“That’s exceptionally troublesome to me,” McCoy told The Associated Press. “It points me to the issue we’ve been arguing about in the state, that people are not going to tell the truth when they fill out the forms to buy a gun, so maybe we should have a registry of people who are subject to these orders. That’ll be more fodder for discussion.”
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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