Harold Mayo
March 11, 2003, 04:11 PM
This from the Associated Press:
NEW YORK (AP) - Three people were in custody Tuesday in connection with the killing of two police detectives who were shot in the head during an undercover mission to buy illegal guns, officials said.
The detectives, who had been driving with two associates of a gun seller, were found Monday night lying on a street on Staten Island, both shot in the head. They were the first New York City officers killed on duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks.
``This kind of barbarism will not be tolerated in this city,'' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Two people were taken into custody during the night and the third was taken in for questioning Tuesday, officials said.
Police officers in riot gear had swarmed over the crime scene. Police also shut down the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects Staten Island and Brooklyn, and forced a Manhattan-bound ferry to return to its dock on Staten Island so passengers could be checked late Monday.
The slain detectives had been working on the gun operation for about six months. Their identities were withheld in part because of the risk to other undercover officers.
The officers reportedly still had the money they carried to buy the gun and their own guns were still in their holsters. They apparently had not fired a shot.
The two slain detectives were hoping to buy a Tech-9 submachine gun and had picked up two associates of a man who had previously sold one of the officers a gun. Their car was secretly being tailed by four undercover police cars.
When the detectives' car stopped suddenly, the backup officers were forced to keep driving to avoid being detected. The backups lost sight of the car when it drove off again and lost radio contact with the detectives when they entered a hilly area, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
Is the Tec-9 considered a submachinegun?
What is illegal about it? It's ugly and I would never buy one, but they're completely legal, aren't they? Well, it IS New York City, though.
NEW YORK (AP) - Three people were in custody Tuesday in connection with the killing of two police detectives who were shot in the head during an undercover mission to buy illegal guns, officials said.
The detectives, who had been driving with two associates of a gun seller, were found Monday night lying on a street on Staten Island, both shot in the head. They were the first New York City officers killed on duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks.
``This kind of barbarism will not be tolerated in this city,'' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.
Two people were taken into custody during the night and the third was taken in for questioning Tuesday, officials said.
Police officers in riot gear had swarmed over the crime scene. Police also shut down the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which connects Staten Island and Brooklyn, and forced a Manhattan-bound ferry to return to its dock on Staten Island so passengers could be checked late Monday.
The slain detectives had been working on the gun operation for about six months. Their identities were withheld in part because of the risk to other undercover officers.
The officers reportedly still had the money they carried to buy the gun and their own guns were still in their holsters. They apparently had not fired a shot.
The two slain detectives were hoping to buy a Tech-9 submachine gun and had picked up two associates of a man who had previously sold one of the officers a gun. Their car was secretly being tailed by four undercover police cars.
When the detectives' car stopped suddenly, the backup officers were forced to keep driving to avoid being detected. The backups lost sight of the car when it drove off again and lost radio contact with the detectives when they entered a hilly area, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.
Is the Tec-9 considered a submachinegun?
What is illegal about it? It's ugly and I would never buy one, but they're completely legal, aren't they? Well, it IS New York City, though.
