There was a Glock .45, serial number BRGY817, used in a drive-by shooting that left a 13-year-old girl with a bullet in her hip. It was also fired during an alleged gang squabble at a party that left two men injured.
And an FN pistol, serial number 38639282, found by police in Phoenix, Arizona, when they searched the home of a man who sold drugs to undercover officers.
Also a CZ Scorpion AR-pistol, serial number E049277, found during a bust on a 17-year-old who sold fentanyl to undercover agents — the gun was later tied to several shootings.
According to police, those are just three of nine guns legally purchased by Adin Kellner at Albuquerque gun shops between October 2019 and December 2021.
Most of those guns have since been traced to drive-by shootings, drug trafficking and indiscriminate gunfire around the city. Kellner, 25, and his younger brother Riley Kellner, 20, faced charges in some of those incidents, but in other cases it’s unclear how his weapons ended up in the hands of others.
Both brothers are currently charged with shooting at or from a motor vehicle and conspiracy in a Jan. 31 drive-by that left Adin’s ex-girlfriend’s car riddled with bullets.
A judge denied a pretrial detention motion for Adin Kellner, who has no criminal history according to online court records. He was released on pretrial conditions including an ankle monitor.
Riley Kellner and an accomplice, Jimmy Ward, 22, are also charged in a Feb. 25 incident where they fired a gun and danced on a car, waving guns around, in Downtown Albuquerque. A judge granted a motion to keep Riley Kellner behind bars until trial.
Attorneys for the brothers did not return calls for comment.
Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said there is a larger investigation ongoing into the matter and that more charges are expected.
“This is an important arrest that is part of a larger investigation that should result in local and federal charges,” he said. “Chief (Harold) Medina made this investigation a top priority when he became chief because it involved groups engaging in gun violence throughout the city.”
A criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court lays out how the guns purchased by Adin Kellner were connected to various crimes, including separate shootings that left several people injured.
Here are the guns Kellner purchased and where each ended up, according to the complaint:
- Adin Kellner bought a Glock 9mm, serial number BKWS514, in October 2019 from Sportsman’s Warehouse. The gun was recovered in February 2020, when police found a 17-year-old boy hiding the gun in his sweater, according to the complaint. That gun was connected to bullet casings found in the Ridgecrest area days after it was bought by Kellner.
- Adin Kellner bought an Omni Arms AR-pistol, serial number NS233245, in December 2019 from BMC Tactical, but police said that gun “has not been recovered.”
- Adin Kellner bought a Glock 9mm, serial number BKSS262, in March 2020 from Ponderosa firearms. It was recovered by police in November 2020 after a person found it in the stairwell of a Ramada Plaza hotel. Nine days later, a friend of Kellner falsely reported the gun stolen from his car. The gun was fired by another man at two women outside a Halloween party in 2021.
- Adin Kellner bought a SCCY 9mm, serial number 881894, in May 2020 from Sportsman’s Warehouse. It was recovered by police in July 2020 when Adin Kellner fired the gun while intoxicated with his brother outside their home. He was cited for negligent use of a firearm.
- Adin Kellner bought two FN pistols in June 2020 from Ponderosa Firearms. One pistol, serial number 38639282, was recovered in May 2021 by the Phoenix Police Department when they busted a man who sold drugs to undercover officers over social media.
- Adin Kellner bought a Glock .45, serial number BRGY817, in November 2020 from Omni Arms. It was recovered in April 2022 when police found it under the driver’s seat of Jimmy Ward, 22, during a DWI arrest. The gun matched bullet casings from seven different shootings between July 2021 and January 2022. There were no injuries reported in three of the shootings, including at a birthday party where two men fired at the home after being kicked out. But in the other four incidents, someone was hit. Among those shootings, the gun was used in a September 2021 shootout between alleged gang members that left two men shot; was used in two shootings in January 2022, a drive-by where a 13-year-old girl was shot; and an incident where Riley Kellner barged into his ex-girlfriend’s home with a gun and then went outside, fired it and injured a 21-year-old. Riley Kellner was charged with multiple felonies in the last incident, but the charges were dismissed when his ex-girlfriend refused to cooperate.
- Adin Kellner bought a Glock 9mm, serial number BRGY817, on Dec. 19, 2020, from Omni Arms. It was recovered February 2021 when police found the gun on Riley Kellner after he sold marijuana to an undercover officer. Riley Kellner was charged but the case was dropped, according to court records, due to “the limited availability of adequate laboratory testing and in order to make efficient use of resources” after New Mexico decriminalized marijuana in April 2021.
- Adin Kellner bought a CZ Scorpion AR-pistol, serial number E049277, on Dec. 26, 2020, from BMC Tactical. It was recovered in October 2022 when police found it at the home of a 17-year-old who sold fentanyl to undercover detectives. The gun matched bullet casings from seven different shootings, including the birthday party, the drive-by and the incident at Kellner’s ex-girlfriend’s home where the Glock .45 was also used.
- Adin Kellner bought a tan Glock 19x 9mm, serial number BURN135, in December 2021 from BMC Tactical. The gun was used in four separate shootings, including gunfire that pierced a man’s window in July 2022 and a drive-by that injured a man in November 2022. The gun was also used to shoot up Adin Kellner’s ex girlfriend’s SUV.
On Jan. 31, police responded around 12:30 a.m. to reported gunfire at the Union 505 Apartments near the Big I. The ex-girlfriend told police her SUV was shot up after she blocked Adin Kellner on Instagram and she saw his Jeep fleeing the area.
Adin Kellner was interviewed on Feb. 7 but not arrested.
Then, on Feb. 25, police responded to gunfire near Third and Central and a Chrysler 300 was seen leaving the area. Police then watched as two men, later identified as Ward and Riley Kellner, took turns dancing on the car and waving guns as a woman recorded it on her cellphone.
Police said, at one point, Kellner fired a gun from the back seat of the car.
Hours later, Bernalillo County deputies found a reportedly intoxicated Ward in his wrecked car surrounded by Modelo beer cans and an empty bottle of Peach Crown Royal.
On March 7, police searched the Kellner brothers’ social media and found posts about dealing fentanyl and photos of the pair firing guns at city parks and on the mesa. Police arrested Riley Kellner at a Blake’s Lotaburger and Adin Kellner on East Central.
Officers searched their home and found three guns, miscellaneous ammunition and extended magazines.
A detective asked Adin Kellner about the drive-by shooting outside his ex-girlfriend’s apartment. He told police he was “upset” after she talked about shooting up his home on social media and shared his address.
Adin Kellner told police he “wanted to get them first” and the two brothers made a plan, according to the complaint. Adin Kellner said, once at the complex, he handed Riley his Glock 19x and the brother fired multiple times at the ex-girlfriend’s vehicle.
