Authorities recovered ghost guns, a 3D printer, printing tools and more from a licensed day care in New York City on Tuesday, leading to the arrests of three people.
Police announced the arrests on Wednesday, identifying two of those detained as minors. The third suspect was identified as 18-year-old Jamal Coley.
The arrests came after authorities launched an investigation into people who were buying ghost gun parts and materials to 3D print firearm components online, Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner said Wednesday.
Authorities obtained a warrant to search a home and licensed day care run by Coley’s mother, where they found a 3D printer; 3D printing tools; plastic filament; two 3D printed firearms; a nearly completed, 3D printed assault pistol; and a 3D printed lower receiver on Tuesday, she said.
Coley was arrested at the day care. Authorities also confiscated a dog that Weiner described as “obviously maltreated and neglected.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the suspects in the case will face charges including illegal firearms possession, manufacturing an assault weapon and reckless endangerment.
“When made well, ghost guns and 3D printed firearms operate just like commercial firearms,” Weiner said. “In the hands of teenagers, they can inflict just as much violence.”
The ghost guns were discovered after authorities found fentanyl and other drugs earlier this month under a trap door at a day care in the Bronx. Authorities said four children were exposed to fentanyl at the facility, including a 1-year-old who died.
“Who would have thought that we must add to our list of inspections, ‘Do we have 3D printers that can print guns?’” Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday. “’Do we see the presence of various items like fentanyl and other items?’
“These new methods of creating unsafe environments demand that we stay ahead of those who are doing terrible things in centers where we place our children.”
Police Commissioner Edward Caban said that authorities are increasingly seeing ghost guns. He said the weapons are “among the easiest ways to obtain a gun.”
“It can be made in your home,” he said. “It can be made anonymously, and they are cheap, costing a fraction of the price of a traditional firearm.”
He called 3D printing “the new frontier” in techniques used by criminals to evade police.
In 2021, police seized 263 privately made firearms. The following year, 436 ghost guns were seized. As of Wednesday, police had seized 290 – three times as many as they had by this time last year, Weiner said.
Authorities continue to investigate.
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