posted October 23, 2024 10:30 PM            

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe-breaking/2024/10/23/suspect-identified-tempe-democratic-party-office-shootings/75806849007/

Federal agents on Wednesday morning hauled more than 120 firearms, including "machine guns," out of the Ahwatukee Foothills home of a man suspected of shooting at a campaign office for the Democratic Party three times and posting bags of white powder labeled as poison near political signs.

Jeffrey Michael Kelly, 60, was arrested on Tuesday night near his Ahwatukee Foothills home by Tempe police who, according to court documents, used surveillance footage to find the suspect.

Pictures of the suspect vehicle were shared through Silent Witness, resulting in tips from community members who recalled Kelly had been accused of stealing campaign signs in the area in 2022, Tempe police Chief Ken McCoy said at a news conference on Wednesday.

About a dozen plainclothes law enforcement personnel were taking inventory of a menagerie of weapons in the carport of Kelly's home on Wednesday morning. A reporter overheard mention of handguns being found in a master bathroom safe and the words “machine gun” and "silencers.”

One of the law enforcement agents told a Republic reporter that he was with the FBI. At a court hearing, a prosecutor said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also was involved.

The weapons were placed in a moving van and hauled away. The remains of the garage door, which neighbors said was ripped out by police, lay crumbled on the sidewalk just south of the home.

Kelly was ordered held on seven felony counts, including three of committing an act of terrorism. A court document said authorities were still preparing a case regarding the white powder attached to the political signs. A court document said Kelly was also under two separate federal investigations.