MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — When it comes to solving gun crimes, knowing where the weapon originated from can make a big difference.
A trace of the guns used by a felon to kill three first responders in Burnsville earlier this year led investigators to that man’s girlfriend. WCCO now knows that police were at a nearby gun store roughly two hours after the deadly shooting. It’s where the girlfriend bought one of the guns used in the ambush.
There is only one place in the world where traces like that are done. It’s in Martinsburg, West Virginia, at the ATF National Tracing Center.
When a gun crime happens in Minnesota the ATF National Tracing Center is watching.
“That firearm can be traced down to the original purchaser of that gun. That’s what we aim to do here,” Neil Troppman, who runs the tracing center, said. “We get upwards of 1,700 to 1,800 requests per day on any given day.”
Last year, the center received 645,000 requests. Most are what’s called “routine.”