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NYPD: Rookie Shot, Killed By PA Ex-Con, Second Officer Clinging To Life NYPD: Rookie Shot, Killed By PA Ex-Con, Second Officer Clinging To Life
Nypd: Rookie Shot, Killed By PA Ex-Con, Second Officer Clinging To Life A 22-year-old rookie New York City police officer was killed and another officer critically wounded Friday night during what has become one of the most violent periods in the city's recent history. Officer Jason Rivera -- who once wrote that he wanted to join the NYPD to “better the relationship between the community and the police" -- was ambushed with two other officers while responding to a domestic violence call in a Harlem apartment, authorities said. The female caller had said she needed help with her son, city officials said during a solemn news conference at Harlem Hospital. The m…

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by Jerry DeMarco
News
Number Of Guns Seized At US Airports 'Shot' Up Last Year, TSA Says Number Of Guns Seized At US Airports 'Shot' Up Last Year, TSA Says
Number Of Guns Seized At US Airports 'Shot' Up Last Year, TSA Says The second year of "the new normal" in a world with COVID saw a significant increase not only in the volume of travelers but also in the number of those trying to bring guns aboard planes nationwide, the TSA said Tuesday. With more people traveling last year, Transportation Security Administration officers stopped 5,972 firearms at airport security checkpoints across the country -- up 3,257 from the year before, said Lisa Farbstein, an agency spokesperson for the TSA. Here's the kicker: Last year's amount was also considerably more than the 4,432 detected in 2019 -- even before the pandemi…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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Feds: Pistol-Packing Ex-Con Busted At Jersey Shore ER Claiming To Be With DEA Feds: Pistol-Packing Ex-Con Busted At Jersey Shore ER Claiming To Be With DEA
Feds: Pistol-Packing Ex-Con Busted At Jersey Shore ER Claiming To Be With DEA An ex-con was charged federally after he showed up at a Jersey Shore emergency room for treatment packing a handgun and then claimed he was DEA agent, authorities said. Staff members at Hackensack Meridian Health Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank spotted Wesley Rucker, 34, of Tinton Falls carrying the gun in his waistband, federal authorities said. “Rucker showed the security officer two identification cards in a leather bifold wallet with the Drug Enforcement Administration (”DEA”) logo embossed on the outside,” a federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives complaint on …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Man With Loaded Revolver Busted By TSA At Philadelphia Airport: Officials Man With Loaded Revolver Busted By TSA At Philadelphia Airport: Officials
Man With Loaded Revolver Busted By TSA At Philadelphia Airport: Officials A Philadelphia man was cited for bringing a loaded revolver to the Philadelphia International airport on Friday, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The unidentified man, who was carrying a .38 caliber handgun loaded with five bullets, was stopped while going through an x-ray machine at a security checkpoint, according to a release by the TSA. The man’s weapon was confiscated, he was cited by Philadelphia police, and faces a “stiff federal financial civil penalty for carrying his loaded gun to a TSA security checkpoint,” according to the release. “This man told us tha…

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by Jillian Pikora
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Traveler Caught With Gun At Newark Airport Checkpoint Traveler Caught With Gun At Newark Airport Checkpoint
Traveler Caught With Gun At Newark Airport Checkpoint TSA agents grabbed a Florida man as he tried to board a plane at Newark Airport with a gun and a box of ammo in his carry-on baggage, authorities said. The weapon was properly packed in a hard-sided case along with a box that held 35 bullets, the Transportation Security Administration said. But it wasn't supposed to be carried on, the TSA said. Had he declared the gun, the passenger would have been able to include the legally owned firearm with his checked baggage, the agency said. He apparently forgot. Agents held the man for Port Authority police who took him into custody. That makes …

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Trio Indicted In Botched Armed Robbery, Attempted Murder, Monmouth Prosecutor Says Trio Indicted In Botched Armed Robbery, Attempted Murder, Monmouth Prosecutor Says
Trio Indicted In Botched Armed Robbery, Attempted Murder, Monmouth Prosecutor Says Three men from Central Jersey have been indicted for attempted murder and armed robbery, authorities said. Thaddeus West Jr., 21, and Suncere Smith, 27, both of Neptune City; and Kingphess Gomez, 21, of Woodbury in Gloucester County, all are charged with first-degree armed robbery, first-degree conspiracy, first-degree attempted murder, second-degree certain persons not to possess a firearm, and other related second-degree weapons offenses, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Lori Linskey. About 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 22, a ShotSpotter notification showed multiple sh…

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by Jon Craig
Police & Fire
Stolen Handgun, 250 Bags Heroin Recovered In Atlantic City Stolen Handgun, 250 Bags Heroin Recovered In Atlantic City
Stolen Handgun, 250 Bags Heroin Recovered In Atlantic City A 22-year-old man from South Jersey was arrested with a loaded handgun stolen from Virginia, authorities said. A 9-1-1 tip at 7:08 a.m. on Sunday sent Atlantic City patrol officers Christopher Dodson, Alberto Valles, Ahmed Waqar and Warren Young to the first block of south Florida Avenue. Surveillance Center personnel were able to direct the officers to Dupree Frederick, Jr., who was in the area and matched the description from the 9-1-1 caller, police said.  A loaded handgun allegedly was recovered from Frederick’s pocket, according to Lt. Kevin Fair, a police department spokesman. …

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by Jon Craig
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Feds, NJSP Bust South Carolina-To-Paterson Gun-Running Ring Feds, NJSP Bust South Carolina-To-Paterson Gun-Running Ring
Feds, Njsp Bust South Carolina-To-Paterson Gun-Running Ring New Jersey State Police seized nine firearms that were headed to Paterson from South Carolina, leading to the arrests of six accused gun runners. Four defendants were in a vehicle stopped by State Police on Sept. 26, Acting U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Rachael A. Honig said. Two of them -- ex-con Kendell McFadden, 28, and Laronmir MdFadden, 27, of Florence, South Carolina -- led the ring, a subsequent investigation involving the ATF found, she said. The McFaddens recruited a group of straw purchasers to buy the guns in and around Florence for them, Honig said. This summer, for instance, S…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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South Jersey Man Killed In Police Shooting Had Reported Gunman On His Property, AG Says South Jersey Man Killed In Police Shooting Had Reported Gunman On His Property, AG Says
South Jersey Man Killed In Police Shooting Had Reported Gunman On His Property, AG Says UPDATE: A South Jersey man who was killed in a police-involved shooting last month had called 911 to report a trespasser on his property wielding a gun, Acting New Jersey Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck revealed Wednesday. Two Mantua Township police officers responded to a 911 call at the Elm Avenue home of Charles Sharp III, 49, shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sept 14, Bruck said. Sharp had called police to report that several people were trespassing on his property, including someone armed with a gun, the attorney general said. He was shot by one of the officers when they encountered him outs…

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by Jerry DeMarco
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It's The Old Gun In The Belt Buckle Trick: Ridgefield Park Man Nabbed At Newark Airport It's The Old Gun In The Belt Buckle Trick: Ridgefield Park Man Nabbed At Newark Airport
It's The Old Gun In The Belt Buckle Trick: Ridgefield Park Man Nabbed At Newark Airport TSA agents at Newark Airport said they nabbed a Ridgefield Park man trying to sneak a gun belt buckle through security. The weapon, seized at a Terminal C X-ray security check, was “packed inside of two soft-sided zippered cases within a backpack and initially appeared to be a large belt buckle with a replica gun on it,” the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said. It could quickly be popped out of its “decorative metal oval frame” and used, the agency said in a release. The owner told Port Authority police who arrested him that he “forgot he had his gun with him,” it said. “Cla…

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by Jerry DeMarco
Police & Fire
Teenager Arrested With Loaded Handgun, Atlantic City Police Say Teenager Arrested With Loaded Handgun, Atlantic City Police Say
Teenager Arrested With Loaded Handgun, Atlantic City Police Say An 18-year-old man from Atlantic County has been arrested for possessing a loaded handgun, authorities said. At 2:50 p.m. on Wednesday, Atlantic City police were patrolling near Stanley Homes Village on reports of recent shootings, according to Lt. Kevin Fair, a police department spokesman. Detectives Alberto Valles, Christopher Dodson and Darrin Lorady stopped a vehicle after watching a young passenger enter it. Officers suspected that the man was carrying a handgun, Fair said. After police turned on their  emergency lights at Kentucky and Baltic Avenues, the vehicle's driver made a…

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by Jon Craig
News
2nd Arrest Made, 3rd Victim Dies In South Jersey Birthday Party Shooting 2nd Arrest Made, 3rd Victim Dies In South Jersey Birthday Party Shooting
2nd Arrest Made, 3rd Victim Dies In South Jersey Birthday Party Shooting A second person was arrested and a third victim died following a birthday party shooting over the weekend in Cumberland County, authorities announced. Darrell Dawkins, 30, of Bridgeton, was charged with unlawful possession of a handgun days after Kevin Dawkins, 36, was arrested on similar charges, New Jersey State Police said. The younger Dawkins was not believed to be a shooter in the incident, in which 14 people were struck by gunfire. Braylin Holmes, 19, of Millville City, died of injuries sustained in the shooting and was pronounced dead Monday night at Cooper University Hospital, pol…

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by Cecilia Levine