The gun allegedly used to kill Trayvon Martin attracted as much as $140,000 at the close of bidding in an online auction Wednesday.
Now George Zimmerman, who pulled the trigger on that weapon, is sifting through the offers, in an attempt to weed out any fake ones.
UnitedGunGroup.com, the site that hosted the auction, said in a statement that Zimmerman was “vetting several offers and verifying funds.”
The group said there was actually two auctions running simultaneously for the gun — one for pre-qualified bidders and one for the public.
The highest bid of $138,900 was made by a user with the handle John Smith, but it was not immediately clear if it was a legitimate submission.
The gun — a 9 mm Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol — was first listed on UnitedGunGroup.com last Thursday but was pulled after the auction appeared to be hijacked by bogus bids, including one for $65 million.
Prior to that, another online auction site removed the listing for the gun because it did not want the publicity.
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In a statement, Zimmerman said he would soon begin the process of notifying the winner.
“The winning bidder will ultimately decide if they want their information to be maintained in confidentiality and they are assured that I will withhold their identity from all media and private parties,” the statement said.
Zimmerman has said some of the proceeds from the sale would go toward opposing the Black Lives Matter movement as well as Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton. The 32-year-old former neighborhood watch captain killed Martin in 2012 after he saw the unarmed 17-year-old walking through his gated Sanford, Florida, community and did not recognize him. He confronted the boy, leading to an altercation and the shooting. Zimmerman claimed self-defense. He was found not guilty of second-degree murder in 2013 as the case set off a wave of protests about race relations and “stand your ground” laws. An attorney for the Martin family did not immediately comment on the end of the gun auction Wednesday, but has previously said the sale is “hurtful” and “devastating.” Zimmerman filed a defamation lawsuit against NBC News in 2012. A judge dismissed that claim in 2014. Zimmerman appealed, but a judge ruled against him. This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com.Recommended
Erik Ortiz