SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio Police Department officer has been suspended indefinitely after he appeared to take multiple weapons from a gun buyback event.

What You Need To Know

  • At the event, San Antonio City Council aide Bryan Naylor said he witnessed Officer David Mahula place two firearms in his personal car

  • Mahula admitted to asking people at the event whether they would sell their weapons to him personally, but he said there were "no takers"

  • Mahula said he placed the weapons in his personal car to "safeguard" the firearms, but the weapons he said he returned to the property room didn't seem to match surveillance video at the event

  • His indefinite suspension began on May 10, 2024

According to records from the City of San Antonio, Officer David Mahula was suspended for allegedly taking multiple firearms and boxes of ammunition from a gun buyback event hosted by the city and lying to detectives about it.

At the event, which occurred on Nov. 19, 2023, San Antonio City Council aide Bryan Naylor said he witnessed Mahula place two firearms in his personal car. 

On Dec. 14, 2023, Mahula was interviewed by detectives. He admitted to asking people at the event whether they would sell their weapons to him, but no one did. Mahula admitted to placing two rifles and a “World War II era Colt 1911 handgun” in his car, but he claimed he was “safeguarding the firearms until they were turned in later and to ‘separate’ weapons of potential ‘historical significance,’” according to a document obtained by Spectrum News.

“He provided very specific descriptions and a sample photograph of the type of rifle,” the document said. “Two rifles matching his descriptions were found in the property room.”

Mahula also said he took multiple boxes of ammunition to his car to be destroyed at the Firearm Range despite acknowledging that he knew there were officers at the event tasked with that. Nine boxes of ammunition were found by detectives in Mahula’s car. 

On Jan. 30, 2024, detectives showed Naylor photos of the two rifles Mahula described, and Naylor said the firearms he saw Mahula take appeared to be shotguns, not rifles. But, Mahula told detectives in a later interview that two rifles in the photos were the ones he had placed in his car at the event. 

Surveillance video of the event showed Mahula placing two weapons, one of which looked like a shotgun, into his car. 

On Feb. 29, 2024, a San Antonio resident provided a statement to police saying that he surrendered two shotguns at the event. Surveillance video showed that his weapons appear to be the ones Mahula placed in his vehicle, which were not “the rifles Officer Mahula claimed to put in his vehicle.”

The surveillance footage also showed Mahula holding what looked to be a handgun. 

“Officer Mahula then walked a short distance, acquired a jacket, and then proceeded to wrap the handgun he retained in the jacket,” the city document said. “Officer Mahula then appeared to place the jacket containing the suspected handgun inside of his personally owned vehicle.”

The footage also showed Mahula appearing to place a “brown handgun case/holster” in another officer’s patrol vehicle and then later taking that same item back to his own car.

The two other SAPD officers working the event were also interviewed by detectives. One of them said they questioned Mahula about the Colt handgun, and Mahula responded by placing a finger to lips, which the officer interpreted as Mahula telling him to be quiet. Mahula then later showed the two officers the handgun. 

Mahula's indefinite suspension began on May 10, 2024.