(FreedomBeacon.com)- Using a “ghost gun,” which is a kind of firearm that is nearly impossible to link to anyone using existing investigative techniques, a Stockton man accused of three charges of murder on October 18 is alleged by prosecutors to have committed the crimes.
Ghost guns are unregistered firearms assembled from parts or created using 3D printers. They lack serial numbers, making them practically impossible to track.
The killings of three males in Stockton between August 30 and September 27 are believed to have included an untraceable pistol, according to San Joaquin County District Attorney Tori Verber Salazar on October 18.
According to investigators, Wesley Brownlee, 43, has been charged with three charges of murder for a string of six deaths in Stockton and Oakland. Authorities have not disclosed any more information regarding the evidence used to prosecute Brownlee, who Allison Nobert, a public defender, is defending.
At a press conference following Brownlee’s arraignment on October 18, Verber Salazar stated of the gun, “I’m just going to say… it was a polymer.”
When a traditional firearm is used in a crime, law enforcement can utilize the serial number to find out who bought it and when and where it was sold.
In contrast, a “ghost gun” can be created using a frame without a serial number and purchased parts independently.
According to the Giffords Law Center, the end result is a firearm that cannot be traced using records of transactions between producers, distributors, and purchasers.
Additionally, customers are exempt from background checks since they are buying gun components rather than finished firearms, according to the center.
According to retired FBI special agent John Sommercamp, “I need the gun, and then I need to put the gun in the hand of the bad person” when looking into homicides.
However, he claimed that with ghost weapons, “you’re never going to go backward and say, how did it get handed over to (the killer), for example.” “But if I can find him with the weapon or at his place, then I got him,” the speaker added.
When Brownlee was detained on October 15, according to Stockton police, he carried a firearm, but they haven’t said whether or not the handgun was used in the three homicides.
