3D Printed Weapons Found in Children’s Center: Arrests Made

3D printed weapons were found in a space that was supposed to be a safe place for children: a children’s center located inside one of the apartments in building number 58 on 117th Street in East Harlem.

Mayor Eric Adams, along with other city officials, announced that an 18-year-old and two juveniles were arrested after police found 3D-printed firearms, a 3D printer and material for printing objects inside the daycare center. .

“It’s hard for parents, because you go out to work and leave your children with people you’re not with… as I say, we don’t know what’s going to happen to our children,” said Sandra Valencia.

The 18-year-old in police custody is called Jamal Coley and is the son of the woman who runs the daycare. However, officials say she has not been arrested.

Felipe Rodríguez, an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a former NYPD sergeant, explains that these weapons are difficult to control.

“When a person buys a firearm, they have to have a background check done, and what they are doing with ‘ghost guns’ they don’t have to get a background check and what they are doing is selling these revolvers on the street to people who really should not have weapons,” Rodríguez said.

According to the police, the problem is getting bigger.

In 2021, they recovered 263 privately manufactured firearms.

Last year they recovered almost double that amount.

“It is a weapon that functions like a firearm, as if it were purchased from a regular company. What we have is that they take the information through a network, through a site like that, and what they do is make the computer with the 3D printing, making the same piece as if it were the factory. So the difference is very minor,” Rodríguez added.

This news comes just a few weeks after a one-year-old child died and three other young children were poisoned with fentanyl at a daycare in the Bronx.

Following these two incidents, city officials are looking for ways to train daycare inspectors to identify drug and gun hazards.

The 18-year-old man who was arrested faces charges including manufacturing assault weapons and reckless endangerment.

2023-09-28 00:04:00
#Ghost #guns #printer #Harlem #daycare