A Deputy Sold the Guns Used in the Roxborough High School Shooting to an Informant

A Philadelphia sheriff’s deputy sold guns, two of which were used weeks earlier in the Roxborough High School shooting that killed a 14-year-old and left four others injured, to an FBI informant in the U.S. illegally, according to the department of Justice.

Samir Ahmad, 29, of the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office was arrested and charged with trafficking and selling firearms to someone in the U.S. illegally. The gun sale took place on October 13, while Ahmad was working as a deputy with the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office.

According to a detention memo, police tracked down both of the Glock handguns sold and discovered that they had been used in a September shooting near Roxborough High School that left one teen dead and four others injured at the end of a football scrimmage.

The prosecutors said the gun trade happened after the shooting. According to a Justice Department representative, prosecutors don’t believe Ahmad sold guns to the suspects involved in the school shooting.

Authorities have not established how the shooter’s guns came to be sold to the informant, but according to the prosecutors, Ahmad initially sold a firearm to the informant in April.

On October 13, at the point of sale, the informant told him that he was in the U.S. illegally and that the gun transactions could get him “deported,” but Ahmad was caught on video telling the informant “you don’t have to worry about none of that.”

Ahmad, who was arrested on October 19, took $3000 from the informant in exchange for the guns and ammunition, according to prosecutors. The informant gave the FBI the Glock handguns and ammunition after making the purchase.

The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office Terminates Samir Ahmad, a Deputy who Trafficked and Sold Guns

According to a department spokesperson, Ahmad, who was hired by the sheriff’s office in February 2018, was immediately terminated after his illicit activities came to light.

Prosecutors went on to say “that the defendant’s dismissal from the Sheriff’s Office was brought about by his consistent poor attendance record. This information clearly shows that the defendant earned more money from the illicit selling of drugs and firearms than he did from reporting for duty as a sworn law enforcement officer.”

U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero said, “Samir Ahmad abused his position as a sworn law enforcement officer to the greatest extent feasible.”

“The defendant was allegedly selling firearms illegally on the street to at least one person who was not allowed to possess them, adding gasoline to the already raging inferno of lethal gun violence in the City of Philadelphia,” Romero added.

Ahmad faces at least 15 years behind bars.