Authorities discovered an illegal gun workshop inside a Manayunk home after a man accidentally fired a bullet into his neighbor’s bedroom, the District Attorney’s Office said Monday.
In the aftermath of the incident, police allegedly discovered 19 guns inside the property, on the 100 block of Roxborough Avenue, and prosecutors have charged 31-year-old Thomas Brion with a litany of firearm-related crimes.
Officers were called to the area late on Wednesday, April 29, and spoke to a couple who reported a loud bang, law enforcement officials said. A projectile was found on the floor of their bedroom.
Detectives determined that Brion had been holding a gun and accidentally shot a bullet through the wall of his home and into the adjoining property, according to the DA’s Office. Police knocked on Brion’s door; family members told them he had left; and officers ultimately apprehended him in a car behind the house, authorities said.
Prosecutors said officers found 13 handguns, 6 long guns, an engraver and several other firearm components, including multiple homemade suppressors, better known colloquially as silencers.
“It doesn't actually silence a gun, but it makes it very hard for law enforcement to figure out the source of shots that are fired,” Krasner told reporters at a news conference Monday. “A suppressor is illegal.”
Not all of the guns belonged to Brion, the DA’s Office said. Investigators are analyzing the weapons and Brion’s cell phone to uncover additional information, officials added.
“This is an ongoing investigation,” Assistant District Attorney Corey Grable said. “There may and likely will be more arrests forthcoming.”
Due to a prior felony burglary conviction, Brion is not legally permitted to have any firearms, Krasner said.
He has been charged with 19 counts of illegal firearm possession, discharging into an occupied structure, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault and reckless endangerment.
Brion was released on bail. No defense attorney was listed in court records Monday.
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