UPDATE: 12/21/2021 11:38 pm
Utica Police have made an arrest in connection with the alleged accidental firing of a weapon inside the Fastrac on Genesee Street in Utica.
On December 21, 2021, the UPD Major Crimes Unit arrested 19-year-old Anthony Oates of Utica and charged him with the following:
- Criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree
- Criminal possession of a firearm
Police say the 9mm pistol that was allegedly “used in the incident was also recovered.”
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This update is for informational purposes and is based largely on information from the Utica Police Department. All arrested persons are innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.]
Utica Police are asking for your help in locating the suspect in an incident that occurred Sunday at Fastrac on Genesee Street.
The UPD says they were called to 1800 Genesee Street at approximately 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 19, 2021.
Police say that “the individual depicted in the … images accidentally fired a handgun while inside the Fastrac located at 1800 Genesee Street.”
According to The Education Fund to Stop Gun Violence, a nonprofit whose purpose includes, among other things, “reducing gun violence in all its forms,” says that each year approximately 500 people are killed annually by unintentional shootings. On its website, the EFSGV, also says that “unintentional firearm injuries account for 37% of non-fatal firearm injuries.”
In this particular incident reported by the Utica Police Department, no one was injured, but the police want to speak to him and need your help in identifying him.
Anyone with information should call the Utica Police Department Criminal Investigations Division at: (315) 223.3510. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Mohawk Valley Crime Stoppers at: www.mohawkvalleycrimestoppers.com, by calling 1-866-730-8477 (TIPS), online directly at: www.p3tips.com or using the P3 Tips mobile application, available to download for free. Crime Stoppers requests that tips not be sent through the organization’s Facebook page.
Information received by Mohawk Valley Crimestoppers is confidential and is shared with other law enforcement agencies.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: The individual pictured is not, at the time of this posting, a suspect in a crime. All persons are innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.]
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