The Latest: DOJ won’t comment on Charleston victims’ lawsuit

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Latest on a lawsuit filed against the FBI by families of some of the people killed at a South Carolina church (all times local):

4 p.m.

The federal government is declining to comment on lawsuits filed against the FBI by survivors of some of the Charleston church shooting that killed nine people.

Agency spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said Friday the U.S. Department of Justice wouldn’t comment on the lawsuits. The cases filed Thursday accuse the government of errors that enabled Dylann Roof to buy the .45-calibre handgun used in the shootings at Emanuel AME Church.

FBI Director James Comey has said Roof shouldn’t have been able to buy the gun and promised a full review.

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon told The Associated Press last summer that a clerk entered incorrect information for Roof’s prior drug arrest, which prevented an FBI examiner from finding the documents necessary to deny the gun purchase.

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11 a.m.

The families of some of the nine people killed in a South Carolina church are suing the FBI.

Their lawsuit accuses the federal government of errors that enabled Dylann Roof to buy the .45-calibre handgun used in the June 2015 shootings at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

Federal officials didn’t immediately return an email. FBI Director James Comey has said Roof shouldn’t have been able to buy the gun and promised a full review.

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon told The Associated Press last summer that a clerk entered incorrect information for Roof’s prior drug arrest, which prevented an FBI examiner from finding the arrest details when Roof tried to buy a gun.

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP . Read more of her work at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/meg-kinnard/