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A cache of weapons East Hampton police said they recovered from an 18-year-old and his grandfather. Police said the teen was building “ghost gun” firearms with the help of his grandfather.

EAST HAMPTON — Police have arrested a local teen they say built “ghost guns” - including one modified to fire like a machine gun - with the help of his grandfather.

Clayton Hobby was charged with three counts possession of an assault weapon, three counts criminal possession of a pistol and a single count of criminal possession of ammunition, East Hampton police said.

The 18-year-old was also charged with manufacture of a machine gun, possession of high capacity magazines and risk of injury. He was held on $250,000 bond.

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On Monday, East Hampton police said they were contacted by “a concerned citizen” who reported that she had learned at a party over the weekend that an adult “in the neighborhood had built an AR-15 firearm after purchasing parts online,” according to a press release and a police report.

Police identified Hobby as a suspect, and “found that Hobby was aided by his grandfather, Kerry Schunk,” police said in a press release.

Police said they seized multiple “ghost gun” AR-15 rifles in various states of assembly at Hobby’s and Schunk’s home on Mountainview Road “including one that was converted to shoot fully automatic.”

Both rifles had fictitious serial numbers, according to the incident report.

Ghost guns are firearms built at home, often from kits that require owners to drill out unfinished portions of the firearm frame - the part that is legally the gun - to assemble them into a working firearm. The kits to build ghost guns can be purchased online. Their name comes from the fact that the kits don’t include a serial number, making the guns harder for law enforcement to track when they’re used in crimes. Under the state law, residents can still build guns at home, but are required to first acquire a serial number from the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.

Possessing or building an automatic firearm - meaning more than one round is chambered and fired per trigger-squeeze - is tightly regulated under state and federal law.

East Hampton police said that in addition to the rifles, three polymer handguns were also found, along with 15 “high capacity” magazines and 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

Once arrested, Hobby told police he purchased the weapons and tools from various website, the police report read. He said he didn’t plan or intend to hurt people, but build the arsenal to protect his family, according to the police report.

After police received the tip Monday from the concerned citizen, 64-year-old Schunk walked into the police department to “ask some questions on the legalities of building an AR-15” with his grandson. Schunk told police he was hoping to build the firearm with Hobby and wanted to make sure he did everything legally, the police report stated.

He added that his grandson received an AR-15 lower in the mail several months prior. Schunk saw that it did not have a serial number so he “smashed it apart with a hammer and threw it away,” the police report stated. After his arrest, Schunk told police that was a lie, according to the report.

He told police that he and Hobby had not received any additional gun parts, or built firearms, since then.

After police asked Schunk to provide a written statement, Schunk stood up and said he would bring Hobby to the police station to explain. He then hastily left the police department, according to the police report.

Police then became concerned Schunk would attempt to destroy the firearm and drove to their Mountainview Road home. At the home, the officer saw Schunk walking up to the house and he told officers “I got some things to take care of.”

Police told Schunk he needed to say if there was an illegal AR-15 in the home. Schunk said the firearm was in a shed and got Hobby to come out of the home.

“Everything is mine,” Hobby immediately told police, according to the police report. “My grandfather had nothing to do with it.”

In the shed, police saw a silver AR-15 laid on top of several full backpacks. Police said the firearm had a “crudely constructed, or homemade lower receiver” and other features such as a pistol grip, detachable magazine and a flash suppressor. Nearby, police found numerous other AR-15 parts and a holster, according to the incident report.

In one backpack, there was a black lower receiver for an AR-15. The lower receiver had a buffer tube, a collapsible stock, a pistol grip and a detachable magazine. Police noticed an auto sear, which allows the weapon to shoot more than one round per trigger pull, installed in the rifle, according to the police report.

“The addition of these parts made the weapon a machine gun,” the incident report stated.

Inside the same backpack, police also found another AR-15 lower receiver without a serial number. In another backpack, police discovered a metal ammunition can filled with a large bag of rifle ammunition, according to the police report.

A third backpack contained “a myriad of firearm parts and firearm tools which could be used to complete the building of AR-15 assault weapons,” the incident report stated, as well as ammunition and two, unregistered pistol lower receivers, the police report stated.

In Hobby’s bedroom bureau, police found more parts and tools, as well as high capacity magazines and a book that contained instructions on manufacturing poison, firearms, bombs, converting semi-automatic weapons into machine guns and other information, according to the police report.

In one of the drawers, there was a bag of metal ball bearings, an empty can of camping propane and a suspicious long black cylindrical item that was hollowed but covered in electrical tape. The item had two brown wires protruding from either end. Police later cleared the item as non-explosive and safe, the policereport stated.

Police reported they also discovered a bullet proof vest with rifle-related body armor.

Hobby later told police that he purchased all the weaponry from various websites. Though he said he knew the firearms were illegal, “he thinks guns are cool and he finds firearm laws to be tyrannical,” the incident report stated.

He also said to officers that he had no desire to make a bomb and he had “no plan or intention to ever hurt people,” the police report said. “He stated that he built his arsenal to protect his family and he stated that he often feels somewhat paranoid.”

Schunk told police he thought Hobby was a good kid and “did not believe Hobby had any evil intentions,” according to the incident report.

Peter Yankowski is a breaking news reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media. He previously reported for the Danbury News-Times and, before that, the Ridgefield Press.

Liz Hardaway is a breaking news reporter for Hearst Connecticut Media through the Hearst Fellowship Program.

She previously worked at the San Antonio Express-News to help cover city hall and local issues. She also worked at the Sun Newspapers in Southwest Florida as a general assignment reporter covering politics, business, and health. 

Liz graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2018 with a B.A. in journalism. She enjoys cooking, reading and playing with her dachshund, Finn.