Assault weapons linked to ATF strategy turn up in Valley; Case agent honored with lifesaving award

PHOENIX - A Phoenix ATF case agent involved with a questionable and controversial strategy to track drug cartel leaders is being honored with the ATF Lifesaving Award.

According to a statement issued by ATF Acting Deputy Chief for Public Affairs Drew Wade, Hope MacAllister is receiving the award as recognition for helping render aid to a suspect who had been shot during a robbery investigation in 2009.

MacAllister was "part of an ATF Special Response Team and performed triage and lifesaving interventions, so the wounded man could be transported to the closest hospital emergency center," Wade indicated.

The award honors ATF employees who perform lifesaving acts that do not put themselves in danger, according to an ATF statement.

MacAllister was also the case agent involved in the controversial Fast and Furious investigation, according to Congressional testimony.

Phoenix ATF agents recently testified that during that case, they knowingly allowed weapons to slip into the hands of buyers who would then distribute the weapons to known criminals.

The strategy was supposed to lead ATF officials to drug cartel leaders, but agents admitted they never followed the weapons to see where they went.

As a result, they testified, hundreds of weapons are now on the streets in the United States and Mexico.

The ABC15 Investigators have uncovered new information showing weapons linked to that case and strategy are turning up in crimes in Valley neighborhoods.

For months we've been searching through police reports and official government documents to uncover whether assault weapons linked to a controversial ATF plan put Valley communities at risk.

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