One of the guns with the “switch” attached.
GREENFIELD — Officials with the Greenfield Police Department say a local teenager has been part of a gun operation after the teen was found to be in possession of multiple handguns, including a machine gun.
The 17-year-old Greenfield teenager is currently at a juvenile detention facility outside of Hancock County after being arrested late Tuesday afternoon at his residence in the Saw Mill neighborhood on the west side of Greenfield.
Officials with the Greenfield Police Department (GPD) Detective unit began investigating the teenager after receiving information he was allegedly selling handgun “switches,” which alter a handgun into a machine gun.
In a release, officials with the GPD noted Tuesday afternoon that GPD detectives were conducting surveillance on the residence and observed a hand-to-hand exchange with the suspect and another person in a vehicle. A traffic stop was conducted, and a “switch” was found in the vehicle.
After the “switch” was located, the teenager was arrested without incident at the residence, officials said in the release. Once both parents arrived at the residence, a search warrant was executed. During the search of the residence, the GPD detectives located three different illegal handguns, illegal narcotics and additional “switches” for handguns, they said.
Officials noted a “switch” is a small device that can be placed on the back of a handgun that converts the semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic machine gun. The “switch” itself is considered a machine gun by Indiana and Federal law.
Officials noted the teenager was already on monitored home detention at the time of his arrest for prior gun-related crimes.
Formal charges will be determined by officials with the Hancock County Prosecutors Office and filed in a Hancock County Court. It is not known at this time if Prosecutor Brent Eaton will charge the teenager as an adult.
Officials noted, of the three handguns they found during the search of the home, one of the handguns had a “switch” installed on the back which had a 30 round magazine fully loaded.
“This goes back to the statement we made last year that we are going to hold people accountable,” GPD Cheif Brian Hartman said.
Hartman noted officials also found marijuana and mushrooms at the residence.
Officials with the GPD said that local law enforcement is committed to taking illegal guns and drugs off our streets.
“We continue to hold juveniles accountable and maintain a zero-tolerance policy for gun related crimes,” GPD Deputy Chief Chuck McMichael said in the release.
