UTICA, NY — A 49-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a shooting incident earlier this month in which gunfire was directed toward an uninvolved bystander.
Utica Police units were dispatched to the area of Sunset Avenue and Warren Street at approximately 10:10 p.m. on April 3 for a report of shots fired.
Officers located two spent 9mm Luger shell casings on the sidewalk and bench area near the pedestrian bridge.
Surveillance footage revealed that two individuals were discharging firearms at one another before both fled the scene on foot.
At the time of the incident, an uninvolved bystander was seated on a nearby park bench with his dog, and at least one shot was fired in his immediate direction.
The case was assigned to investigators with the GIVE Unit, who located nearby surveillance footage that captured an image of one of the suspects.
With the assistance of the Mohawk Valley Crime Analysis Center, the image was distributed and the suspect was quickly identified.
On April 8, GIVE Investigations, with the assistance of UPD Tactical Unit officers and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force, took Lamont Brown, 49, of Utica, into custody without incident.
Brown was transported to the Utica Police Department and charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, criminal possession of a firearm, reckless endangerment in the first degree and attempted assault in the first degree.
The investigation into the identity of the other suspect is ongoing.
