PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Federal authorities say two guns used in the Roxborough High School shooting have been linked to a former Philadelphia deputy sheriff who was arrested last week for gun trafficking.
According to court documents, former Philadelphia Deputy Sheriff Samir Ahmad, 29, is accused of selling drugs and three guns this month to a confidential federal informant. Two of those guns had been used weeks earlier in the Roxborough shooting that killed a 14-year-old high school football player and wounded four others.
Dressed in an olive-green jumpsuit and orange shirt, Ahmad stood before a federal judge Thursday and waived his detention hearing, agreeing to stay behind bars for the time being.
Ahmad was arrested by FBI agents in the sheriff’s office on Oct. 19, and he faces charges of firearms trafficking and selling firearms to a person unlawfully in the United States, according to a statement from United States Attorney Jacqueline Romero.
Federal authorities say Ahmad sold two guns for $3,000 last week to the informant, who captured audio and video of the transactions.
In one transaction, which was recorded on video, when the informant told Ahmad that he could “get deported” if he was caught with a gun because he was in the country illegally, Ahmad said, “You don’t got to worry about none of that,” according to the criminal complaint.
Authorities say Ahmad later sold a third gun and some drugs.
“He was detained and at this point we just have to look into our investigation and I guess the government is going to continue with theirs,” said Ahmad’s attorney, Michael Parkinson.
“There’s still much more that’s going to come, and we basically need to see what the evidence is saying and do our investigation and take it from there.”
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If convicted, Ahmad could get 15 years in prison.
The sheriff’s office says it is cooperating with local, state and federal authorities in the matter and says Ahmad has been dismissed for “repeated violations of directives, policies and procedures.” He had been with the sheriff’s office since February 2018.
Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw released the following statement Thursday afternoon:
Last week, the Philadelphia Police Department became aware that two firearms sold by a defendant in an unrelated FBI investigation matched ballistics with weapons used during the Roxborough High School shooting.
The charges against the defendant, a former Philadelphia sheriff’s deputy, are incredibly disturbing and allege outrageous conduct that stands in stark contrast with everything society expects from law enforcement officers. … The Philadelphia Police Department will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners to ensure that all of those responsible for this heinous crime are taken into custody.
The investigation into how those guns landed in Ahmad’s hands is still underway, Outlaw said.