Prevent Phoenix Veteran Affairs From Causing Another Mass Shooting

WHY WE ARE SPEAKING OUT

At the Phoenix VA Health Care System, people are being arrested and released without fingerprints, booking, DNA collection, or prompt appearance before a federal magistrate. These failures primarily concern warrantless arrests, where offenders are taken into custody and released without the required prompt judicial review or coordination with the U.S. Marshals Service. This is not a paperwork mix-up. It is a pipeline failure that lets dangerous offenders vanish from the federal record. That means no FBI number, no National Crime Information Center (NCIC) hit, no Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) match. Cases that could be solved remain cold. Survivors stay at risk. Staff and patients are left exposed.

In 2024, a whistleblower complaint—
OAWP Case 24-Phoenix-23807
—documented this pattern and was dismissed on a narrow technicality that no VA policy requires fingerprinting. The truth is simple: federal law and Department of Justice procedures require agencies to collect DNA when they exercise arrest authority. Phoenix VA leadership has the tools and training but continues to ignore these mandates. (
Read OAWP Investigation Here
)

THE STAKES

Survivors of sexual assault are denied the basic safeguards that connect offenders to past crimes. Without these safeguards, repeat offenders go undetected and victims are left vulnerable to further harm.
Violent offenders return to campus with no federal record of the arrest, allowing them continued access to VA grounds and potential victims.
Unsolved rapes and homicides miss possible Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) hits that could have identified suspects or linked serial offenders across jurisdictions.
This same failure pathway mirrors what occurred before the
Sutherland Springs mass shooting
—where missing submissions allowed a prohibited person to purchase firearms. In Phoenix, these same failures let dangerous individuals remain undetected and unrestricted, creating the conditions for another preventable tragedy.
CASE STUDY: THE IMPROPER ARREST AND RELEASE OF A VIOLENT OFFENDER

In 2019, an individual known among Phoenix VA Police as a Purple Belt in Jiu-Jitsu was arrested after assaulting one or more officers — a felony-level offense. Despite the severity of her actions, she was reportedly released on a United States District Court Violation Notice (USDCVN) citation without fingerprinting, booking, or judicial processing. This release violated the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, particularly
Rule 5(a) & (b)
, which requires warrantless arrestees to be promptly brought before a magistrate for review, as well as their own governing directive under
VA Handbook 0730/3 | July 11, 2014 (pg. 8, §.e(a)
, which mirrors these federal requirements for custodial arrests and judicial presentment.

Subsequent Shooting and Public Danger (Local Police Could’ve Been Killed)

In 2020, that same individual was involved in a shootout at a Phoenix hotel near 10400 N. Black Canyon Highway. According to
reports
and
video
footage, she exchanged gunfire with City of Phoenix Police (local) officers after "a caller reported that their roommate at the hotel had 'gone crazy' and fired a gun outside the hotel.". Officers returned fire and neutralized the threat, narrowly avoiding serious injury or death. This violent confrontation underscores the public safety danger created by Phoenix VA’s disregard for federal arrest and reporting requirements—if she had been properly processed, fingerprinted, and presented before a magistrate, she may have been under court supervision or prohibited from firearm possession altogether (if she wasn’t already a prohibited possessor).

https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/police-involved-in-shooting-near-interstate-17-and-peoria-avenue
https://youtu.be/RE9fVYJWcKA?si=8D-D77oEcHojX1v6
Missed Safeguards and Deadly Consequences

Had Phoenix VA Police followed proper procedure, the individual would have been brought before a magistrate, placed under pretrial supervision, and potentially restricted from obtaining or possessing a firearm. Instead, the department’s practice of citing and releasing offenders without judicial oversight or fingerprint/DNA submission allowed her to reenter the community without accountability or tracking.

Systemic Pattern of Negligence (this pattern of failure began even before the 2017 Sutherland Springs mass shooting)

This case directly parallels the Sutherland Springs tragedy, where Devin Kelley was able to purchase firearms after the Air Force failed to submit his conviction data to the FBI. Both incidents illustrate how missing federal records lead to avoidable violence. Phoenix VA’s ongoing refusal to submit fingerprints and DNA data perpetuates the same systemic negligence that can endanger both law enforcement officers and civilians.

WHAT IS HAPPENING AT PHOENIX VA

Improper Arrest and Release Process

Arrestees are commonly released without fingerprinting or DNA collection.
Offenders are custodially arrested, taken to a holding cell, further searched, and then released on a United States District Court Violation Notice (USDCVN), which serves as a citation. Others are released pending referral to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office—often without any referral to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona due to leadership’s lack of knowledge, experience, and understanding of the federal criminal justice system.
This means offenders are not fingerprinted, not turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service, and not taken before a magistrate or placed in a correctional facility for judicial review. This circumvention allows the arrestee to have no formal federal record.
The practice also enables Phoenix VA Police Department (PHXVAPD) officers to make arrests for matters that would otherwise require full federal process. If following the proper federal arrest process, officers—after an on-scene assessment—would probably issue a citation on scene, but due to the current procedures and manpower concerns, officers often choose to custodially arrest the individual, detain them in a holding cell, and deny arrestees their right to
prompt presentment
(which could easily be done via video under
Rule 5(f)
), instead of following the actual law and their own directive, VA Handbook 0730, which requires taking arrestees before a magistrate or placing them in detention for that purpose.
Failure to Coordinate with Federal Authorities

Officers often bypass coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service, resulting in minimal federal oversight and broken communication between Phoenix VA and federal prosecutorial authorities. These failures have persisted for years, even before the 2017 Sutherland Springs mass shooting, illustrating how long-standing breakdowns in record submission and oversight can set the stage for future tragedies.
Staff report repeated assaults by known offenders who continue returning to the facility. This is not only a risk inside the VA—it poses a serious safety concern for the surrounding community and general public as well. Offenders released without fingerprints or any federal record can easily leave the grounds, reoffend elsewhere, and remain invisible to law enforcement databases. These repeated lapses endanger not only those within VA grounds but also citizens, visitors, and communities beyond the facility, creating an expanding public safety threat that could lead to further violence or loss of life.
Leadership Pressure on Officers

Officers report being ordered by leadership to violate these requirements, for example, told not to fingerprint, not to notify the U.S. Marshals Service or U.S. Attorney’s Office, and to issue USDCVNs instead of initiating
Rule 4
and Rule 5 processing, with explicit warnings that refusal could result in write‑ups, involuntary shift changes, loss of arrest authority, or other disciplinary action. Multiple officers describe a climate of retaliation fears that chills lawful reporting and contradicts federal whistleblower protections.

The Law in Plain English

DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 requires the federal government to collect Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) samples from individuals who are arrested, charged, convicted, or detained under U.S. authority. The Act was implemented by the Department of Justice under then–Attorney General Eric Holder through subsequent policy orders and regulations.

Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure — specifically Rule 4, Rule 5(a), and Rule 5(b) — govern how arrests and initial appearances must be handled in federal court. Rule 4 outlines the procedure for filing a criminal complaint, requiring it to be sworn before a magistrate judge as the basis for an arrest warrant or summons. Rule 4 also applies to both warrant and warrantless arrests—when an arrest occurs without a warrant, a sworn complaint must still be promptly filed before a magistrate to establish probable cause and initiate judicial review. Rule 5(a) mandates that a person arrested without a warrant must be promptly brought before a magistrate judge for an initial appearance without unnecessary delay. Rule 5(b) further requires that this presentation include informing the defendant of the charges, their rights, and the procedures for counsel and bail. Collectively, these rules ensure judicial oversight, prevent unlawful detention, and protect due process for all federal arrestees.

District procedures expect agencies to notify the U.S. Marshal when they arrest someone as a federal prisoner in the District of Arizona. Officers with the Phoenix VA also fail to coordinate with the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO)—both of which are essential to lawfully presenting a case in federal court. These two entities operate under the jurisdiction of the District of Arizona, which is governed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and the
Local Rules of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
. According to Local Rule LRCrim 32.2.1(b), it is the duty of the U.S. Marshal to require that all federal agencies, and any others who arrest individuals as federal prisoners in this district, provide immediate notice of such arrests or incarcerations:

“It shall be the duty of the Marshal to require all federal agencies and others who arrest any person as a federal prisoner in this district and all jailers who incarcerate any such person in any jail or place of confinement in this district, to give the Marshal notice of such arrest or incarceration forthwith.” —
Rules of Practice and Procedure of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, LRCrim 32.2.1(b) (2023), at 182
."

When Phoenix VA skips these steps, offenders fall out of the system entirely.

WHAT IS CODIS, NCIC, NGI, AND FBI CJIS?

These acronyms refer to key systems used in U.S. law enforcement:

Combined DNA Index System (CODIS): The national database managed by the FBI that stores DNA profiles from convicted offenders, arrestees, and forensic evidence.

National Crime Information Center (NCIC): A nationwide database that tracks criminal records, warrants, and stolen property information.

Next Generation Identification (NGI): The FBI’s advanced biometric identification system that replaced the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), providing rapid fingerprint and facial recognition matches.

FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS): The division of the FBI that manages CODIS, NCIC, and NGI databases, ensuring law enforcement agencies nationwide can share and search criminal information.

STOP OR PREVENT FUTURE "RAPE" OR SEXUAL ASSAULT

The same negligence that allows violent offenders to avoid fingerprinting and DNA collection also enables sexual predators to walk free and reoffend. Without DNA evidence or proper federal documentation, perpetrators of rape and sexual assault escape detection, leaving survivors unprotected and investigations cold. Every uncollected DNA sample represents a potential match that could stop a predator, solve an unsolved case, or save a future victim. The failure to act at Phoenix VA has denied survivors justice and allowed dangerous offenders to remain hidden. This is not only a dereliction of duty—it is a direct threat to the safety of every veteran, employee, and member of the public.

LESSONS LEARNED IN LOSS OF LIFE: THE 2017 SUTHERLAND SPRINGS CHURCH SHOOTING

The 2017 Sutherland Springs church shooting stands as a devastating reminder of what happens when agencies fail to submit arrest and conviction data to federal systems. The Air Force’s omission directly enabled the shooter to legally purchase firearms that would have been prohibited had his records been entered. This tragedy underscores the catastrophic cost of procedural neglect—and the lesson is clear: when one agency fails to do its job, innocent people die.

This Is Preventable

The Air Force once failed to send critical criminal data to the FBI—a gap that directly enabled the Sutherland Springs mass shooting, where 26 innocent lives were lost. The failure was not because of missing technology, but because of ignored procedure and human complacency. After that tragedy, the Department of Defense overhauled its entire data submission process to ensure that no dangerous individual could slip through the cracks again. Phoenix VA stands today at the same crossroads. They already have (or had) the LiveScan machines, DOJ access, and federal arrest authority necessary to protect the public. But unlike the Air Force, they have chosen not to act. Each day of inaction risks another headline, another preventable death, and another shattered community. Phoenix VA must act now to prevent the next tragedy.

OUR DEMANDS

Immediate stop to release-without-record at Phoenix VA. No arrest leaves the facility without fingerprints, booking, and DNA collection when legally authorized.
Mandatory DOJ-compliant procedure for all VA Police nationwide. Publish a directive that ties arrest, fingerprinting, and DNA collection together and requires presentment to a magistrate for qualifying cases.
Independent audit and public report on Phoenix VA arrest, fingerprint, DNA, and NCIC submission rates from 2020 to present, including corrective actions and timelines.
Training with accountability. AO 91 filing, Rule 4 and Rule 5 requirements, and coordination protocols with USAO and USMS. Include measurable performance standards and consequences for noncompliance.
VA OIG investigation into leadership decisions that blocked compliance, suppressed reform, or retaliated against whistleblowers.
Victim safety plan now. Trespass and protective orders where appropriate, cross-checks with CODIS hits, and a survivor-centered response pathway on VA grounds.
WHO MUST ACT

VA Secretary and Assistant Secretary for Operations, Security, and Preparedness
Office of Security and Law Enforcement and Office of the Senior Security Official
Phoenix VA Health Care System leadership
U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Marshals Service for coordination and oversight
VA Office of Inspector General for investigation and audit
WHAT SIGNING ACHIEVES

Forces top VA leadership to implement a national fix, starting in Phoenix.
Brings DOJ oversight into a system that is currently failing survivors.
Protects VA patients, nurses, doctors, and police officers.
Helps close unsolved cases and stop repeat offenders.