Hattie Louise James of Charlotte was featured prominently in the Washington Post on Sunday, but not for reasons she would want.

James, a 72-year-old retired hospital worker, was the original owner of the gun used to kill Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers Sean Clark and Jeff Shelton in April 2007. She purchased the gun legally, but it was stolen a year later from her husband’s car.

In a year-long investigation, the Post looked into the deaths of 511 police officers killed by guns in the United States from the beginning of 2000 to Sept. 30. It then traced how those guns came into the hands of killers.

James’s gun was one of those traced.

"I liked to had another heart attack," she told the Post, referring to the day police came to her house to ask about the gun.

The Post said the gun initially was purchased at Hyatt Coin, a Charlotte store owned by a man named Larry Hyatt.

"That was so horrible what happened," he said. "It just makes me sick to think about it. Do I feel bad? You daggone right I feel bad."

A jury in October found 25-year-old Demeatrius Montgomery guilty of using the gun to kill officers Clark and Shelton at the Timber Ridge Apartments in east Charlotte. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Click here to read the Post investigation.

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