CLOVIS – It’s hard to imagine that a single home nestled in a Clovis neighborhood would contain 541 firearms and more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition, but that’s what California Department of Justice (DOJ) Bureau of Firearms special agents found when they investigated a man who is prohibited from possessing firearms due to a mental health hold.
On November 18, 2015, DOJ announced that special agents seized the weapons during the second week in November. They also arrested Albert Sheakale, 59, who, according to DOJ, is in the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS) database as someone who is prohibited by law from possessing guns.
What kind of guns and ammunition did special agents find and seize?
- 234 rifles
- 209 handguns
- 88 shotguns
- 10 assault weapons
- 181 standard capacity magazines
- 10 high capacity magazines
- 100,521 rounds of various ammunition
“Special agents in the Bureau of Firearms have been working day to day, going from home to home of individuals who have a mental illness, and/or who, by law, should not be in possession of a firearm – let alone hundreds,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona. “This is particularly dangerous work but it must be done to reduce the risk of everything from a single shooting to mass murders. I commend our special agents for their courage and dedication to keeping Californians, and those who visit here, safe.”
In October, DOJ special agents and the Sacramento Sheriff’s Department conducted an APPS operation that resulted in the seizure of 82 firearms and 10 arrests. In May, California Department of Justice Special Agents and local law enforcement partners in Los Angeles County conducted a similar successful operation that resulted in the seizure of 254 firearms, 48,000 rounds of ammunition, and 18 illegal high capacity magazines, as well as the arrest of 26 individuals.
“I believe it makes the neighborhood safer as well as the state of California,” CSLEA Member and DOJ Special Agent-In-Charge Michael Haroldsen told ABC30 News. “Obviously when a person is admitted into a hospital for a mental health hold it’s because he’s believed to be a danger to himself or to the public.”
