SACRAMENTO — The gunman who killed his three daughters, a chaperone who oversaw his visit with the children, and himself at a Northern California church this week was armed with an unregistered “ghost gun,” the authorities said Friday. authorities.

David Mora, 39, was armed with a homemade semi-automatic rifle type weapon. He had an illegal 30-round ammunition magazine and 17 rounds were fired, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said.

Mora was under a restraining order that prohibited him from owning a firearm and authorities are unsure how or when he obtained it.

“The person who knows these answers is dead. I think I can safely say he got it illegally,” said sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. said Rodney Grassmann.

The Sacramento church where the murders took place had been Mora’s home since he was released from involuntary mental health detention in April 2021 after threatening to harm himself and his baby. friend, investigators said.

California sanctuary law protected immigration agency’s release from prison

The violence erupted on Monday during a supervised weekly visit Mora had with her daughters, aged 13, 10 and 9. Investigators have revealed no motive. At the time, Mora was out on bail after being arrested five days earlier for resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer and driving under the influence.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Alethea Smock told The Associated Press that Mora was in the country illegally. He overstayed his visa after entering California from his native Mexico on December 17, 2018,

She did not say when her visa expired. But because he overstayed his visa, ICE asked to be told he was released from jail after he was arrested in Merced County for assaulting the California Highway Patrol officer.

Troubling questions:On bail and with a history of abuse, how could a California man use the gun to kill 3 girls?

The Merced County Sheriff’s Office told the AP that under California’s so-called sanctuary state law, it does not notify immigration officials of people in custody who are released, and ICE was never informed. The 2017 state law restricts local law enforcement cooperation with federal authorities except when immigrants are charged with very serious crimes.

“This indescribable tragedy highlights the true cost, unintended or otherwise, of sanctuary policies that prevent law enforcement from protecting their citizens,” Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones said in a statement.

Jones had previously blamed US immigration policy under former Democratic President Barack Obama for the 2014 killings of two Northern California congressmen by a man who was in the country illegally. The accusation was publicized by former President Donald Trump in 2018.

Jones unsuccessfully ran as a Republican candidate for Congress in 2016 and is running for Congress again.

Grisel Ruiz, supervising attorney at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, said gun control and domestic violence appeared to be central issues in the murders, while immigration status had no bearing.

“Unfortunately, we have seen tragic, politicized incidents in the past resulting in flawed policies targeting immigrants, making it harder for immigrant survivors to get the help they need,” she said. declared.

The weekly visit was allowed under a five-year restraining order obtained by Mora’s ex-girlfriend, who was the girls’ mother. The order said he repeatedly threatened to kill her, scared their daughters, and said he would kill himself.

In response to a request for a court order, Mora said he had no firearms. His ex-girlfriend also said she didn’t know he had guns.

It is unclear whether Mora, also known as David Fidel Mora Rojas, faced a significant risk of deportation despite interest from immigration officials following his arrest. Although ICE requested to be notified of Mora’s release, immigration officials took no further steps to deport him after he was released on bail.

Under Democratic President Joe Biden, immigration officials have prioritized deporting people they deem a threat to public safety or national security or who have recently crossed the border. It’s a departure from the Trump administration, which was illegally seeking anyone in the country for deportation.