Report: Murder weapon confirmed in NYC officer's death
NEW YORK - Tests show a gun recovered in New York City's Harlem River is the weapon used to kill a police officer during a foot chase in Manhattan last week, reports CBS New York.
Chief of Manhattan detectives William Aubry said a weapon consistent with the gun officials were looking for was found around 3 a.m. Sunday by divers. Ballistics tests showed the .40-caliber Glock pistol was the weapon used to shoot Officer Randolph Holder in the head, the station reported Monday.
It was also tested for fingerprints and DNA police said.
The police also shut down part of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Drive on Manhattan's East Side - the area of the shooting - for a few hours Sunday morning as they conducted a ground search. About 100 police officers volunteered to do the work, especially aimed at finding the fatal bullet.
Holder and his partner had responded to a report of shots fired near a public housing development in East Harlem on Tuesday night. When they arrived, a man said his bike had been stolen at gunpoint and the thief fled.
The officers caught up to a man with a bike on a pedestrian overpass that spans the FDR Drive and traded gunfire, police said. After Holder was shot, the gunman ditched the bike and took off, apparently throwing his weapon into the river, police said. He was caught several blocks away with a gunshot wound to his leg, New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said.
Shell casings were being compared with discharged cases police recovered on 120th Street next to Holder's body - in addition to the cases at 102nd Street where the first shots were fired, Aubry said.
He said the scuba team's work was "very difficult." The gun was under 20 feet of water and "they're on their belly and they're searching for it by hand."
Tyrone Howard, 30, has been charged with murder and robbery in Holder's death. His lawyer has said there are many missing details in the case.
Holder's funeral is scheduled for Wednesday. He is to be buried in his native Guyana.
Holder's fiancee Mary Muhammad told CBS New York the couple was scheduled to close on a home next week and were planning their wedding.
"I just wish that I had more time, but I'm thankful for the time that I did have with him," she told the station. "It was the worst feeling ever."