A Woman Bought the Gun Used in the Nordstrom Shooting

The gun used to murder a young woman in a Chicago Nordstrom store on her 22nd birthday in front of hundreds of Black Friday shoppers once belonged to a Skokie woman who reported it stolen.

But the .45-caliber handgun wasn’t stolen, according to authorities. The killer, Marcus Dee, bought the gun from an acquaintance who was once the boyfriend of Nina Dones, 23, of Skokie. Dones reported to Skokie police in September that the weapon was stolen, according to stories in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times citing police sources.

However, prosecutors say Dones bought the gun for a boyfriend who could not obtain one himself due to “mental illness.”

Now Dones, of 4900 block of West Hull Street in Skokie, is charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. She appeared before a judge Saturday and bail was set at $10,000. Dones bought the gun in April 2013 in East Dundee at GAT Guns, the Tribune reports.

Dee was not able to obtain a firearm legally because he did not have a firearm owner’s identification card. On Nov. 28, after more than a year of physically and emotionally abusing his girlfriend, Nadia Ezaldein, Dee walked into Nordstrom at about 8:30 p.m. and shot the woman in the head. He then shot himself to death.

Ezaldein, of Chicago, had broken up with Dee last December after he put a gun in her mouth. But he continued to stalk and torment her after that.

Dee, the son of two Chicago police officers, at one time had a valid FOID card, according to Chicago police.

His family told the Chicago Sun-Times that Dee would write romantic poetry for Ezaldein throughout their courtship, while Ezaldein’s family said Dee was always emotionally and physically abusive toward her.

Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Sean Brady told reporters there is no evidence that Dones knew Dee’s intention to use the gun to kill Ezaldein.

Dones’ mother, Helen, was in court with her Saturday and told the Tribune, “she’s never been in trouble.”