Micah Johnson, the man who killed five police officers in Dallas on July 7, purchased an AK-47 through Facebook and then picked up the gun in a Target parking lot, according to the New York Daily News.

Colton Crews, the man who sold Johnson the gun, said he had forgotten about the sale, which happened in 2014, until federal investigators came looking for him.

"I don't even know how I feel about it right now," Crews told the Daily News. "I have no idea. It's awful. It's just bad."

Crews says he sold the gun for $600 in November of 2014 because he wanted to pay for tickets to a destination wedding in Mexico. While he did a little bit of an online background check, in the state of Texas no official background check is required if the person selling the gun isn't a licensed gun dealer.

"First off, it was my belief he would have passed a background check," Crews told the Daily News. "He didn't seem weird in any way, just a normal guy."

The AK-47 was one of many weapons so far associated with Johnson. Officials found a "cache" of weapons and ammunition at his house. But Crews isn't sure if his old gun was used in the attack that killed the five officers. He told the Daily News that he asked a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent if Johnson used his gun in the shooting and, "He said, 'All we can say is it was recovered. We're just finding out everything we can.'"

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker