NYPD confiscates 47 guns, arrests 57 people in city-wide crackdown over the weekend

The New York Police Department (NYPD) announced on Wednesday that they had confiscated dozens of guns and arrested several people in a city-wide crackdown that took place over the weekend. 

In three days, NYPD officers seized 46 illegal weapons and arrested 57 individuals as part of the major gun bust.

“There were children and families playing in the park and just like that a few feet away someone is carrying an illegal firearm,” Chief of Patrol Jeffrey Maddrey said at a press conference announcing the arrests.

"This is truly incredible work on the part of our police officers and it's a harsh reminder of the staggering proliferation of guns flooding in our city," Maddrey added. 

One of the individuals arrested was a man with 11 prior arrests, three of which were gun charges. Identified as Octavous Fayton, 41, the man was most recently arrested at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday at East 216 Street and Bronx Boulevard. 

“I just want to use this one incident as a microcosm,” Maddrey said. “This is happening everywhere where people are walking around with illegal firearms and they’re right in our communities which is creating a hazard.” 

“I applaud the police. I am very proud of NYPD because this is what we need. Enough is enough,” said Jackie Rowe-Adams, co-founder of Harlem Mother and Fathers S.A.V.E, who lost two of her sons to gun violence. 

“The police is not killing us. We’re killing us,” she said. 

According to the latest NYPD statistics, despite overall crime in the city increasing this year, the number of shooting incidents has decreased by 11 percent compared to the previous year. 

There have been at least 870 shooting incidents in the city this year. "And these are all coming from illegal firearms that are brought into our city," Maddrey said.