NEW YORK (PIX11) — Three people, including two teens, were arrested after authorities found several ghost guns and a printer at a home day care in East Harlem as well as two other locations in Harlem, police said Wednesday.
A 3D printer, tools, two completed firearms, and an incomplete firearm were seized Tuesday at the East Harlem Day Center on 117th Street, police said. The items were found in an unlocked room. A neglected dog was also removed from the premises.
“We are clear that we must protect children in New York City,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a briefing on the case. “We’re dealing with a new enemy.”
The suspects — ages 16, 17, and 18 — were charged with illegal firearms possession, manufacturing of an assault weapon, and reckless endangerment, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. Their arraignments were pending Wednesday.
The day care was operated by the 18-year-old suspect’s mother, police said. The teen allegedly had the 3D printer in his room.
“You have an 18-year-old with a 3D printer in his room. He’s not making little robotic toys; he’s making guns,” Adams said.
Authorities could not immediately say if the ghost guns were being sold out of the location. The day care is now closed.
Officials said the day care was last inspected in February and was cited for three document violations. The license was issued in 2021.
Police said the ghost gun bust is part of a growing and concerning trend. Officials said 290 ghost guns have been recovered so far this year. Last year, 436 were recovered. In 2021, 263 ghost guns were recovered.
“These plastic guns have been showing up more and more,” NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said.
The bust comes after four toddlers overdosed from fentanyl exposure at a Bronx day care earlier this month. Four people have been arrested in that case after 1-year-old Nicholas Feliz-Dominici died of a suspected overdose.