The FBI seized an automatic submachine gun and an automatic AR-15-style rifle from the Fresno apartment of Joshua Eric Brown during a search, according to court documents.

Brown, 27, was a Fresno police cadet when arrested by federal agents on Tuesday. The police department subsequently fired him.

The two charges against Brown — possession of a machine gun and possession of an unregistered federally regulated firearm — each have a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

A criminal complaint filed with the court states that an FBI special agent began investigating Brown in June for possibly having illegal firearms.

The agent obtained a search warrant for Brown’s Instagram and Google accounts and found on Instagram “photos and message threads … indicating he had manufactured a fully automatic MP5 firearm, that he possessed an unregistered suppressor, and that he had manufactured and/or possessed those items” at his residence.

According to the affidavit, agents collected the guns, which were loaded, and a suppressor at Brown’s apartment.

Agent: Brown Admitted He Owned the Weapons

“I interviewed Brown after he waived his Miranda rights,” the agent states in the criminal complaint. “He admitted that the MP5, AR-15, and suppressors belonged to him. He further admitted that he knew the MP5 and AR-15 were capable of fully automatic fire.”

That same day, FBI agents test-fired the guns seized from Brown’s apartment “and confirmed that they both could fire multiple shots with a single pull of their respective triggers,” the agent said.

Record show that Brown remained in Fresno County Jail on Friday morning on a federal marshal’s hold.

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Fresno Police Chief Vows Thorough Investigation

A Fresno Police Department news release issued Thursday said that two other department personnel had been put on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation.

The department cooperated with the FBI throughout the investigation, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer told GV Wire on Thursday.

“The Fresno Police Department takes its responsibility to those living and working in our city very seriously,” said interim police chief Mindy Casto on Thursday. “Allegations of misconduct will be thoroughly investigated in an ongoing effort to build and maintain the trust of our community.”

The department hired Brown as a cadet in September 2023.

The FBI declined to comment about the case beyond the sworn statements made by the special agent in the criminal complaint.