Maryland and Howard County police were investigating yesterday how a Columbia man accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife and wounding her daughter obtained a banned gun that was not registered in the state.
Police said Tuse S. Liu, 49, used a Jennings .380 semiautomatic handgun in the shootings Thursday outside the Howard County Circuit Courthouse. So Shan Chan, 52, was killed and Wing Sau Wu, 26, of Baltimore was critically wounded.
The three had just left a divorce proceeding between Liu and Chan, and police believe the shooting was related to the divorce.
Police said Liu fired at the women with a shotgun before using the handgun. They believe Chan and Wu were shot with the handgun, said Sgt. Morris Carroll, a county police spokesman. Police are also investigating the origin of the shotgun, but they said there are other rules because it is not considered a concealed weapon.
"There is no record of [Liu] purchasing a regulated firearm in the state of Maryland," said Capt. Tom Bowers of the state police office of crime gun enforcement.
Jennings guns are considered Saturday night specials in Maryland -- nonsporting, lower-quality guns that may lack safety features, said Brian Morton, associate director of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence.
State officials at the Handgun Roster Board banned the gun from sales because Jennings officials did not ask for approval. They did ask for authorization for two other Jennings guns -- in 1990 and 1993 -- but neither received approval. The board examines several criteria, including safety, ability to conceal, weight and reliability.
"The [.380 semiautomatic handgun] was never submitted to the board," said Iris Birenbaum, the board's administrator. "I think the company felt their newest model wouldn't be approved."
Officials believe the gun Liu allegedly used came from the manufacturer in California and was shipped to a distributor in North Carolina, Bowers said. "We are now determining how the weapon got from North Carolina to Columbia," he said.
If Liu legally purchased the gun in another state, he would be allowed to keep it once he came to Maryland, Bowers said.
Jennings guns are usually cheaper than their counterparts, costing as little as $80, compared with $300 to $500 for a .9mm semiautomatic, said Detective Edward Bochniak of Baltimore's violent crimes unit. But they also tend to be of poorer quality, he said.
The two Jennings guns that did not receive state approval failed safety and reliability tests, Birenbaum said.
Between August 1997 and July 1998, 39.4 percent of all Baltimore crime-related guns recovered were semiautomatic weapons, said Mike Campbell, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Of the 1,286 guns recovered, 507 were semiautomatic, he said.
In a related development, Joseph F. Gaffigan, the attorney who represented Chan during the divorce proceedings, has established a fund with NationsBank to help Chan and Wu's family with medical and funeral expenses. Donations to The So Shan Chan Fund can be made at any NationsBank branch or mailed to NationsBank, 10630 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville 20705.
Pub Date: 3/17/99