One of the terrorists involved in the attack on the Mohammad Art Exhibit and Contest in Garland, Texas, was allegedly allowed to purchase a 9mm handgun from a gun store that is connected to the infamous Fast and Furious gun program run by the Obama Administration in 2010. The pistol was reported to have been purchased at Lone Wolf Trading Co. located in Phoenix.
Lone Wolf was known at the time by gun smugglers to be a store that would sell firearms illegally, according to a report by Richard Serrano with the Chicago Tribune. Nadir Soofi, one of the two terrorists killed during the attack in Garland, had a history of misdemeanor drug and assault charges, the Tribune reported. That could have made him ineligible to legally purchase a gun. While in the Lone Wolf store, Soofi allegedly fudged some facts on the federal firearms form required for gun purchases in a licensed gun store.
Unknown to Soofi, Lone Wolf was in the middle of a federal sting operation knows as Fast and Furious. The ATF program was aimed at Mexican drug lords and traffickers who were attempting to buy guns in the United States and move them to Mexico. The program went sideways when federal officials lost track of the firearms, many of which allegedly ended up in Mexico.
One of those weapons was found at the scene of the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Agent Terry was part of a Border Patrol team responding to the possible presence of Mexican bandits in southern Arizona. He was killed in an ensuing gunfight. One of the guns found at the scene was eventually traced to the Fast and Furious program.
When Soofi submitted the required form, the store contacted the FBI for a background check, according to the Tribune report. Serrano’s article cites a Los Angeles Times article that stated a seven-day hold was placed on the pistol Soofi was attempting to purchase. For reasons that have yet to be explained, that hod was released after one day and Soofi was reported to have left the store with the pistol.
Lone Wolf gun store owner, Andre Howard, has reportedly denied selling the handgun to Soofi.
In May, Soofi and his roommate Elton Simpson attacked the Garland exhibit center where the Mohammad Art Exhibit, being attended by three Breitbart Texas writers, was about to let out. Breitbart Texas reported the two men jumped out of their vehicles and opened fire on a Garland police officer and an unarmed Garland school district security officer.
The Garland police officer drew his sidearm and returned fire. Both of the gunmen were killed. The police officer was struck in the foot. He was transported to the hospital and released that evening.
The Tribune reports states that the FBI has not released any details regarding the weapons used by the two terrorists. “Senate investigators are now pressing law enforcement agencies for answers, raising the chilling possibility that a gun sold during the botched Fast and Furious operation ended up being used in a terrorist attack against Americans,” Serrano wrote.
Soofi’s mother said her son acquired an AK-47 late in 2014. The Tribune reports states that federal officials believe Soofi and his accomplice may have been planning a Super Bowl attack. The Super Bowl was held in Glendale, Arizona, near Phoenix.
Bob Price is a senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and on Facebook.
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