Man who sold ammo to Las Vegas shooter indicted in Nevada

Douglas Haig, right, speaks at a news conference with his attorney, Marc J. Victor, center, on Feb. 2, 2018, in Chandler, Ariz. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

An Arizona man who sold bullets to the Las Vegas mass shooter was indicted Wednesday in Nevada on one count of manufacturing ammunition without a license.

Douglas Haig, 55, was charged in Arizona federal court in February with conspiracy to manufacture and sell armor-piercing ammunition without a license. He was the first and only person to be charged in connection with the Oct. 1 attack, in which Stephen Paddock fatally shot 58 people and wounded hundreds more before killing himself.

A complaint at the time accused Haig of selling Paddock at least two rounds of armor-piercing ammunition. Investigators found the unfired rounds in the shooter’s Mandalay Bay suite. Haig’s fingerprints were on them.

The federal indictment filed Wednesday accused Haig more broadly of manufacturing, selling and shipping ammunition “in interstate and foreign commerce” without a license. He will appear in federal court Sept. 5 in Las Vegas, and his Arizona case is expected to be closed, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for Nevada.

Haig’s name surfaced in January. It was printed on one of about 300 pages of police search warrant records released by Clark County District Judge Elissa Cadish to the Las Vegas Review-Journal in connection with the shooting. The newspaper published his name, and the judge later said her staff should have redacted it.

Later that day, a gaggle of reporters swarmed Haig’s Arizona home. Outside his front door, he confirmed that he had been contacted by investigators.

“I’m the guy that sold ammunition to Stephen Paddock,” he said.

He was charged in federal court a few days later.

Haig told federal agents he first met and sold Paddock ammunition in late August 2017 at a gun show in Las Vegas. Haig and a business partner were selling ammunition for a company called Specialized Military Ammunition, which has since been shuttered.

At a Phoenix gun show in early September, Paddock met again with Haig, who this time did not have the ammunition Paddock wanted. So the pair made arrangements for a future deal.

Haig told agents he gave Paddock directions to his Arizona home, where Paddock paid cash for 720 rounds of tracer ammunition.

“Haig noted that Paddock took the time to go back to his car to get gloves, which he put on prior to taking the box from Haig,” the Arizona complaint stated. “Paddock then loaded the box into the trunk of a dark gray vehicle.”

Marc J. Victor, Haig’s Arizona attorney, told reporters Feb. 2 that his client sold ammunition to the gunman legally. He described Haig as a “law-abiding citizen” and a “proud American” who is “not a political activist of any kind.”

“This was a routine transaction to purchase a routine type of ammunition that is available in many different retail outlets throughout the state of Arizona,” the attorney said. “After that transaction, Doug had absolutely no further contact with Mr. Paddock.”

That same day, hours before appearing in federal court, Haig said he “had no contribution to what Paddock did.”

“I had no way to see into his mind,” Haig said in front of his attorney’s office. “The product that I sold him had absolutely nothing to do with what he did. I’m a vendor-merchant whose name was released.”

Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3801. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.