Officials: Hatchet slaying suspect failed gun background check
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A Tennessee man accused of killing his former employer with a hatchet had tried to purchase a gun days before the attack but failed a background check.
Police have charged 36-year-old Domenic Micheli with criminal homicide in the June 4 slaying of 46-year-old Joel Paavola at a gym in Nashville.
Acting Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director Jason Locke told The Tennessean on Tuesday that “there could have been a whole lot more casualties” if Micheli had been able to purchase a gun.
Bureau spokesman Josh DeVine says Micheli attempted to purchase a firearm on May 30 in Williamson County but was denied. He did not say why.
Paavola was killed as he led a workout at his gym in the Nashville suburb of Belle Meade. Paavola had fired Micheli from his gym more than a year before the attack.
Micheli had previously been stopped by the Secret Service outside the White House.
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