There’s a good reason that officers check our City parks after hours. Officers are never certain what they will find. In this case it was a gun. Not just any gun. This was a stolen gun and it was in good working order.
South Precinct patrol officers were busy doing quality proactive police work in Seward Park last night around 10:30 p.m. They had just contacted a man for trespassing when they heard what sounded like four gunshots coming from the amphitheater area behind the upper loop of Seward Park. Officers released the man and drove around the upper loop to the parking area in front of the amphitheater. The only car in the lot was a Chevy Caprice. Officers contacted the three people in the car: a 19 year old man and two 18 year old women.
Officers ordered all three out of them out of car and told them that they had just heard gun shots coming from the parking lot. The three told officers that they didn’t hear any gun shots. Officers asked them if there was anyone else with them and they said no. Officers searched the car and found a loaded 9mm handgun underneath the driver’s seat. One of the 18 year old women told officers that the gun was hers. The 19 year old man told officers that it wasn’t. The 18 year old woman who said it was hers then explained that it wasn’t hers and she didn’t know whose it was. She later said that she found the handgun near the park footpath and fired it for fun.
Officers did a routine weapons check and learned that the gun has been stolen in a burglary during May of 2010. Officers also searched the area around the car and found four spent 9mm shell casings.
Officers placed all three under arrest and transported them to the South Precinct. All three were later booked into jail.
The Caprice was impounded and the handgun and shell casings were placed into evidence. SPD Gang detectives will be responsible for follow up investigation.
Officers will continue checking Seward Park and other parks after hours in an ongoing effort to prevent crime and enforce the law.