It's unlikely Escondido officers knew Friday night that a fairly routine traffic stop would lead them, the following day, to a mobile ghost-gun manufacturing lab.
The incident began just after 10 p.m. on El Norte Parkway east near East Broadway, according to Escondido police. It ended with 20-year-old Jace Tornio in jail, facing two dozen felony counts and a pair of misdemeanors, which he pleaded not guilty to the following Wednesday.
Police say Tornio jumped out during that traffic stop but was arrested a short time later, in possession of a Glock-style ghost gun investigators believe had been "enabled to be fully automatic due to it being configured with an auto sear and was also equipped with a threaded barrel." The driver, police said, was taken into custody temporarily and then released.
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Threaded barrels allow a silencer to be added to a firearm. Investigators said Tornia also had two high-capacity magazines, 37 rounds of ammo and five auto sear/switch devices. An auto sear is a small conversion device that attaches to a Glock-type handgun and transforms a semi-auto pistol into a machine pistol capable of fully automatic fire.
"So the officers — after finding this on him and some Glock switches that looked like they had been homemade or manufactured — they decided to write a search warrant for Mister Tornio’s residence, and that’s how they found the larger operation which was being run out of his trailer," said Suzanne Baerd of the Escondido Police Department.
Ghost Guns in San Diego
During a search of Tornio's home the following day, investigators said they discovered an extensive gun-manufacturing lab inside an RV parked outside the residence. Police released photos of the inside of the RV, showing a pair of 3D printers, 12 pistol lowers and three rifle lowers, nine 3D-printed magazines, as well as additional gun parts, ammunition and another firearm.
"So this is the first time we have seen this in Escondido, but, according to our federal counterparts, this is the way things are probably going to be going," Baerd said, adding later, "More than anything I am surprised by how easy it is to get the software to be able to print these things. All you need is a 3D printer — the software is free, and then you go buy the polymer or plastic to make the pieces, and that’s really all it takes."
Tornio, who is being held on $492,000 bail, was arraigned April 19 and pleaded not guilty. He's scheduled to appear in court again April 28 and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 3.
With reporting from NBC 7's Kelvin Henry — Ed.
