Utica Police Arrest Armed Juvenile Following Shots Fired Investigations, Recover Loaded Ghost Gun

Over the course of the last several days, the Utica Police Department has responded to shots fired calls on the 1500 blocks of Howard Ave and Neilson St.

The investigation into these incidents was assigned to the GIVE Unit and through their work, a suspect vehicle in one of the incidents was developed. On May 25th, 2026 at approximately 7:15PM that vehicle was located by the GIVE investigators, and with the assistance of the Tactical Unit a motor vehicle stop was conducted.

As they were speaking with the occupants of the vehicle, their attention was drawn to a male in the backseat who was making movements toward his jacket. As officers observed him further, they noticed what appeared to be handgun protruding from the jacket. The male was removed from the vehicle and officers secured a loaded 9mm ghost gun with a 27 round extended magazine.

The male, then learned to be 16 years of age, was detained and transported to the Utica Police Department.

The weapon was test-fired, and the casings were entered into the NIBIN system for further analysis to determine if this weapon was used during the earlier incidents.

At the conclusion of the incident, the 16-year-old was charged with:

Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree

Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the third degree (High capacity magazine)

Criminal Possession of a Firearm

Due to his age, the identity will not be released.

The Utica Police Department will continue to proactively address these Hot Spot areas, using all personnel and technological means.

Through the use of technology such as NIBIN, FLOCK license plate reader technology, ShotSpotter acoustic detection technology, the City of Utica camera system project, and many other systems, along with great partnerships with the Mohawk Valley Crime Analysis Center and street outreach groups such as Rebuilding the Village, Save our Streets, and SNUG, Utica has its lowest gun violence rates in over a decade. We will continue to proactively address any incidents of gun violence so that this summer can be enjoyed by every member of our community.