The gun used in the killing of a San Francisco woman in a case that
gave new political prominence to the issue of illegal immigration belonged to a
federal agent, a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.
Kate Steinle was
shot to death on July 1 on one of San Francisco's busiest piers.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported the weapon was stolen in a car
burglary in June, citing sources close to the investigation.
Some of the
sources said the .40-caliber pistol was apparently not the agent's official
gun.
Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, the man accused in Steinle's
killing, told CNN affiliate
KGO-TV that he fired the weapon,
but it was an accident.
In the
interview, Lopez-Sanchez said he found the gun wrapped inside a T-shirt before
it accidentally went off.
Shooting victim
Kate Steinle known for thinking of others first
Politics of immigration
Lopez-Sanchez is an undocumented
immigrant and a repeat felon who has been deported to Mexico five times, according to immigration
officials.
The case has
drawn the attention of presidential candidates and brought a renewed focus on
U.S. immigration laws and the role local authorities should play in enforcing
them.
The key question
is whether San Francisco's policies set the stage for the shooting by putting a
criminal on the streets instead of delivering him into the hands of federal
authorities who could have deported him again.
Republican
contender Donald Trump has blamed immigration policy for Steinle's death. Another
Republican, Jeb Bush, agreed,
saying such policies encourage
crime.
In an interview
Tuesday with CNN, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton said San
Francisco should have listened to the Department of Homeland Security and made
a mistake when it didn't send Lopez-Sanchez packing.
"I have
absolutely no support for a city that ignores the strong evidence that should
be acted on. ... If it were a first-time traffic citation, if it were something
minor, a misdemeanor, that's entirely different," she said. "This man
had already been deported five times. And he should have been deported at the
request of the federal government."
Immigration and
Customs Enforcement said Lopez-Sanchez has seven felony convictions, four for
drug offenses. His most recent deportation was in 2009.
On Tuesday,
Lopez-Sanchez pleaded not guilty to murder and weapons charges. His bail was
set at $5 million.
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