By Canadian Press

Suspect in shootings of Democratic office in Arizona had over 200 guns in his home, officials find

Oct 23, 2024 | 6:44 PM

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona prosecutor said the man arrested in the three-time shooting of a Democratic campaign office had more than 200 guns and over 250,000 rounds of ammunition in his home, leading law enforcement to believe he may have been planning a mass casualty event.

Maricopa County prosecutor Neha Bhatia said at Jeffrey Michael Kelly’s initial court appearance on Wednesday that federal agents told her about the large seizure made after Kelly’s arrest. Scopes, body armor and silencers were also found, she said. A machine gun was discovered in the car he was driving.

The sheer size of the cache led authorities to believe “this person was preparing to commit an act of mass casualty,” Bhatia said.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — A suspect has been arrested in connection with three separate shootings in 20 days that damaged a Democratic National Committee campaign office in suburban Phoenix, authorities said Wednesday.

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Tempe police said Jeffrey Michael Kelly, 60, also is accused of hanging several political signs lined with razor blades on Tuesday in Ahwatukee, an affluent suburb of Phoenix where most voters have chosen Democrats in recent elections.

Authorities said the hand-painted signs were attached to palm trees and appeared to criticize Democrats and their presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

Kelly was being held on three felony counts of acts of terrorism and four other counts related to the shootings, according to police.

The Phoenix resident had an initial court appearance scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, around the same time Tempe police planned to release more information about Kelly’s arrest.

Police said Kelly allegedly fired BB pellets and then gunshots at the glass front door and a window of the Arizona Democrats’ field office in the early morning hours of Sept. 16, Sept. 23 and Oct. 6. Nobody was inside during the shootings.

The Tempe location was one of 18 Harris field offices in Arizona where Democrats gathered to organize Harris campaign efforts. It was shut down after the last shooting, police said.

Arizona is one of the battleground states where the competition between Harris and former President Donald Trump has been particularly intense.

Political violence has already marred the campaign season, with the Republican presidential nominee being targeted by assassination attempts at a campaign rally and at one of Trump’s Florida golf courses.

The Associated Press