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 NYPD said Sunday.
Chief of Manhattan detectives Bill Aubry said the weapon was found around 3 a.m. Sunday. The gun will be tested for fingerprints and DNA; it will also be test-fired to determine whether it is the same .40-caliber Glock pistol used to shoot officer Randolph Holder in the head last week.
"That firearm is consistent with the firearm that we were looking for," Aubry said.
Police also shut down part of the FDR Drive 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 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 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.
U.S. & World
The chief of detectives said the searches were a "24/7 operation" since the night of the shooting.
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.
