CHARLOTTE (AP) — A man who police say shot four people last week in Greenville had applied for a gun permit last year, but the Pitt County sheriff turned him down, the sheriff’s office said Monday.
Spokeswoman Christy Wallace said 23-year-old Lakim Anthony Faust’s gun permit application was rejected by Sheriff Neil Elks on Aug. 29, 2012.
She said sheriffs have discretion to turn down an application. During the gun permit process, sheriffs conduct criminal background checks.
“The sheriff must have seen something on his background history that sent a red flag,” Wallace said. She did not specify what the sheriff found.
Greenville Police Chief Hassan Aden said Faust will be charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder when he recovers from gunshot wounds he sustained as police took him into custody Friday.
Investigators haven’t found any links between Faust and the four victims.
But Hassan said evidence gathered during a search of Faust’s home appears to show he had some plan for the attack and wanted to shoot multiple people.
Meanwhile, details of Faust’s life began to emerge Monday.
Faust spent time in Maryland, but moved to North Carolina. In 2006, he began pursuing a high school equivalency diploma through Pitt Community College’s basic skills program.
But he ran into trouble.

Faust was banned indefinitely from the college’s main campus in 2006 for disruption of a classroom, said Susan Q. Nobles, the college’s vice president for institutional advancement.
He was arrested twice by campus police for violating that ban.
In 2010, Faust began taking continuing education courses at the community college’s off-campus site. He completed the hours for a weatherization tech program in 2011 but did not earn certification, which requires additional testing, Nobles said.
He has had no affiliation with the community college since early 2011, she said.
In 2008, Faust was enrolled in the Pitt County Youth(at)Work Program, which provides employment training and educational opportunities for people between ages 16 and 21.
A section of the program’s website that spotlights participants featured Faust.
“While in the program he has accomplished many goals and overcame many obstacles,” the website said.
It described Faust as an “outgoing, dedicated, and enthusiastic person. When asked to volunteer, he is the first to accept the assignment,” it said, adding that Faust loved music.
“Lakim spends his down time lending a helping hand to his neighbors, friends and family. But his real love is his music; he enjoys composing, listening, and playing his music. One of his goals is to own his own record studio and record his own music.”
Police said Faust used a pistol-gripped shotgun to shoot a man in a car outside a law firm, crossed five lanes of traffic and shot three more people outside a Wal-Mart in the city of about 87,000 people around 85 miles east of Raleigh.
More than 100 shotgun shells were found on Faust after police shot him, Aden said.
A phone listing for Faust couldn’t be found, and it wasn’t immediately clear whether he has a lawyer.