One of two terror suspects shot dead by a police traffic officer in Garland, Texas last May 3 reportedly was able to get his weapon through the Justice Department's botched Fast and Furious operation.
Nadir Soofi, one of the two gunmen, bought a 9-mm pistol from the Lone Wolf Trading Co. in February 2010.
Lone Wolf was then under the Fast and Furious sting operation of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). In that operation, the ATF ordered the gun store to sell illegal weapons to criminals as part of the bureau's effort to track the guns to Mexican drug lords and traffickers, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
When Soofi attempted to buy the gun, it raised a red flag and authorities put a seven-day hold on the transaction. However, this was lifted after 24 hours and he got the gun.
On May 3, Soofi, together with another gunman identified as Elton Simpson, used the gun in launching an attack on the site of an event featuring a controversial cartoon exhibit of the Muslim prophet Mohammed in Garland, Texas. However, the two were shot dead by a police traffic officer just as they were about to carry out their plan.
A day after the shooting, the Justice Department sent an "urgent firearms disposition request" to Lone Wolf to know more information about Soofi and the pistol he bought in 2010.
While the request did not specify if the gun was used in the Garland shooting, the Justice Department said the information was needed in a criminal investigation.
The Los Angeles Times report said the FBI has refused to provide details about the weapons used by Soofi and Simpson in the Garland shooting.
The Senate is demanding answers from law enforcement agencies including the possibility that the gun bought by Soofi was sold under the Fast and Furious operation.
Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, wants to know if federal authorities have recovered the gun purchased by Soofi in 2010 and why did the seven-day hold was lifted after 24 hours.
"We're still sorting that out," said FBI Director James Comey earlier this month.
In his letter to his mother mailed hours before the shooting, Soofi said he was inspired by the writings of Islamic cleric Anwar Awlaki, an American citizen killed in a 2011 US drone strike in Yemen.
