NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Police formally charged a man who officers shot in the Bronx on Friday afternoon after he pointed a weapon at them.
Chase Lackard, 19, is charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and second-degree menacing of a police officer, the NYPD announced on Sunday.
The shooting happened at about 3:10 p.m. on Friday when officers responded to 755 White Plains Rd. in Soundview after receiving reports of a large dispute involving firearms.
As officers were pulling their car up to a mechanical gate at the rear of the location, Lackard allegedly pulled out a loaded 9 millimeter semi-automatic weapon and took “a shooting stance” at them, NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell said at a news briefing hours after the shooting.
The officers shot at Lackard and hit him twice in the leg. They then began providing aid to him before he was transported to an area hospital for treatment.
In addition to the gun, officers also recovered a knife from the scene.
Chell said that the entire incident was captured by both body-worn cameras and external surveillance cameras, though the footage has not been released.
According to court records, Lackard was arrested in August for weapons charges, pleaded not guilty, and was released despite the prosecutor requesting bail.
“We have someone walking around the community of the Bronx, the Soundview section, with a loaded semiautomatic weapon who was arrested three months ago in the streets of Manhattan and indicted,” Chell said. “This probably shouldn’t have happened.”
A second suspect from the incident is still being sought, police said.
“Our criminal justice system needs to be fixed,” Chell said, before pointing to the fatal stabbing of three New Yorkers in Manhattan last week and another police-involved shooting in Queens that left the suspect dead and one officer wounded.
Chell said that neither of those perpetrators, nor Lackard, should have been on the street, and it is a reflection of the criminal justice system.
“We are very frustrated,” he concluded. “We have to fix this.”