Officers Apprehend 16 Year Old With 2 Guns Following After-School Fight

Bronx, NY – Supervisors are heralding the courageous actions of two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers who on Wednesday apprehended an armed 16-year-old boy involved in an after-school fight.

The fight occurred at about 2:19 p.m. on Nov. 3 in the 2600-block of Jerome Avenue in the Fordham Manor section of the Bronx, WNYW reported.

Officers responded to the scene after receiving 911 calls about an armed male.

NYPD said that when officers arrived on the scene, a teen matching the description of the armed suspect took off on foot, WNYW reported.

Police said the suspect fled into St. James Park and tossed a gun as he ran.

Officers eventually caught up with the suspect and apprehended him, WNYW reported.

NYPD said that when the officers searched the suspect, they found a second gun hidden in his waistband.

“This afternoon, following school dismissal, 52 PCT Officers Castro and Rivera were able to quickly respond to a dispute between youths and disarm a 16 year old who possessed both these firearms,” NYPD Inspector Thomas Alps, the commander of the police department’s 52nd Precinct, tweeted on Wednesday evening.

“Tragedy averted by courageous officers,” Insp. Alps added.

This afternoon, following school dismissal, 52 PCT Officers Castro and Rivera were able to quickly respond to a dispute between youths and disarm a 16 year old who possessed both these firearms. Tragedy averted by courageous officers. pic.twitter.com/K2ZIga2YJp

— NYPD 52nd Precinct (@NYPD52Pct) November 4, 2021

The inspector also shared a picture of the two officers with the guns they recovered from the 16-year-old suspect.

Guns in New York City schools have become a growing problem, and school safety agents confiscated five guns over the space of a few days in October, WNYW reported.

A source from the school safety agent’s union said agents confiscated a firearm at IS 98 in the Bronx and another at Martine Van Buren High School in Queens.

A 15 year old was apprehended with a loaded revolver inside Mott Haven High School and an 18 year old was caught with an unloaded revolver at Stevenson High School, according to WNYW.

School safety officers also confiscated a BB gun at a Bronx school and a loaded handgun from a 17 year old at FDR High School in Brooklyn.