SAN FRANCISCO — A gun used to kill a Northern California artist as he worked on an anti-violence mural was stolen from a federal agent, officials said Wednesday.
The weapon was taken from an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said. ICE spokesman James Schwab confirmed it was stolen Sept. 13 in San Francisco from a car being used by an agent. No other details were released.
Marquise Holloway, 20, of Oakland, was charged with murder in the Sept. 29 killing of Antonio Ramos, 27, who was gunned down while he worked on a mural in a freeway overpass. Police say the shooting stemmed from an argument after Holloway eyed Ramos’ camera equipment to steal.
The gun was one of at least 144 firearms lost or stolen from ICE agents since 2005, according to records that San Francisco news station KNTV obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
It was not clear if Holloway has an attorney to speak on his behalf. A call to the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Holloway also is believed to be responsible for a string of robberies in the area, police said. During a court appearance Tuesday, he shouted expletives at a judge and officers had to drag him out of the courtroom.
The background on the gun comes after Kate Steinle, 32, was shot to death in July along the San Francisco waterfront with a gun stolen from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger.
Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, 45, has been charged with the killing and said he found the Sig Sauer .40-caliber pistol wrapped in a T-shirt under a bench on San Francisco’s Pier 14. The BLM ranger had reported that his service weapon was stolen from his car in June.
The shooting set off a national debate over immigration because Lopez-Sanchez had been deported five times to Mexico and was free because city authorities disregarded a request from federal officials to keep him in custody.
Lopez-Sanchez told police he fired the fatal bullet but called it an accident, according to his lawyer Matt Gonzalez and previous court testimony.