On Thursday, October 29, detectives of the Marion County Sheriff’s Special Investigations Bureau will be at the Lowell firing range to test-fire weapons they hope will give them new leads in unsolved cases. The shell casings from the test-firings will be collected and entered into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) database for comparison.

The Sheriff’s Office initiated involvement in the test-firing process in January 2008 to expedite the analysis of firearms held by law enforcement in the Jacksonville area.

In February, 2009, the Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) to create a task force to further investigate violent crimes involving firearms.

This process proved a huge success in August when ballistic analysis linked Victor Walker, a suspect in a deputy-involved shooting in Marion County, to two unsolved crimes. After the shooting in Marion County, two firearms were collected from Walker’s belongings and test-fired. One of those weapons was traced back to a robbery in Lady Lake, Florida and two robberies in Mansfield and Shelby, Ohio, resulting in an attempted homicide.

Media is welcome to attend the Lowell range test-firing on Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For additional question regarding the task force, FDLE spokesperson Heather Smith can be contacted at (850) 410-7001. ATF spokesperson Bill Filides can be contacted at (813) 202-7300.