NEW YORK (AP) – Divers searching the Harlem River recovered a gun “consistent” with the weapon used to kill a police officer during a foot chase in Manhattan, the New York Police Department said Sunday.
Chief of Manhattan detectives William Aubry said the weapon was found around 3 a.m. Sunday. The gun will be tested for fingerprints and DNA, as well as test fired, to determine whether it is the same gun that was used to shoot Officer Rudolph Holder in the head.
“That firearm is consistent with the firearm that we were looking for,” Aubry said.
The police also shut down part of a major roadway in the area of the shooting for a few hours Sunday morning as they conducted a ground search.
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 a highway and traded gunfire, police said. After Holder was shot, the gunman ditched the bike and took off, police said. He was caught several blocks away with a gunshot wound to his leg, Bratton said.
Shell cases from the test firing would be 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.
Tyrone Howard 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.
This story has been updated to show the gun was recovered from the Harlem River, not the East River.
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