LUBBOCK, Texas — Court documents reveal new information about the raid of a Lubbock home in the days after a mass shooting in Odessa. Officials said on August 31, 2019 Seth Ator killed seven people and wounded many more. Ator was then killed in a shootout with officers outside the Cinergy movie theater in Odessa.
On September 4, 2019, federal agents raided a home in Lubbock in in the 3400 block of Mesa Road. That home was listed at the time in tax records as belonging to Marcus Anthony Braziel. EverythingLubbock.com chose not to name him at that time because he was not charged with a crime and he was not listed in court records.
Court records at the time of this report do not reveal a criminal charge against Braziel. But now he is named in a civil forfeiture filed last week by federal officials in Lubbock.
“On or about August 31, 2019, ATF agents received information that Marcus Anthony Braziel of Lubbock, Texas was manufacturing and selling AR-type rifles and other firearms without holding a federal license authorizing him to engage in the business of selling firearms,” the forfeiture complaint said.
“Specifically, ATF agents recovered evidence that Braziel was obtaining receivers and other components and using them to manufacture AR-type rifles, which he subsequently sold,” it also said. To oversimply it somewhat, the receiver is the part of the gun that has moving parts.
The complaint seeks to permanently forfeit 29 firearms from Braziel.
The complaint did not mention Ator by name. It did say, “On or about October 8, 2016, Braziel sold an Anderson AM-15 rifle, serial number ending in 0756, to ‘S.A.’, a resident of Odessa, Texas.”
The complaint went on to say, “Between approximately April 2013 and October 2017, Braziel purchased ninety-four (94) firearms from at least four separate FFLs [federal firearms license holder]. None of these firearms are classified as curios or relics. Of the ninety-four (94) firearms, seventy-one (71) are presumed to have been sold by Braziel.”
The complaint said Braziel never held a federal firearms license but did hold an expired curio and relic license (expired in April 2017).
EverythingLubbock.com has attempted to reach Braziel for comment. Please check back for updates.
Public Affairs Officer with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas said the government often uses civil forfeiture actions in coordination with criminal investigations.
“The criminal investigation involving Mr. Braziel is ongoing,” Dooley wrote.
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