By Police1 Staff
NEW YORK — Police in New York say more criminals are turning to shared “community” guns to commit crimes, according to a New York Times report.
In a recent example of the rising trend, two men involved in the late-night shooting of a 26-year-old Shanell Crute, went to a mailbox to get a gun after getting in a fight with the Bronx woman and her boyfriend, according to Lt. James Ruane. It turned up empty, police said, but a quick check of a second known location in a nearby building was successful, and that weapon was used to kill Crute.
From garbage pails to wheel wells to the bottom of light poles, police said “hiding holes abound” for the shared weapons, which require sophistication to maintain.
“You call it a community gun, so that name has to be able to market itself,” State Senator Malcolm A. Smith said. “You have a business model behind this concept, a schedule, which is a shame. If they used that intellect for something positive, who knows how successful that person could be?”
The suspect in Crute’s shooting is awaiting trial, and the weapon has not yet been found.