UTICA, NY—In the early hours of February 28, Utica Police were called to the 140 block of Oneida St for a shots fired incident. Upon their arrival, officers discovered several spent shell casings and believed a weapon had been discarded in the vicinity.
A thorough search led to the discovery of a loaded .40 caliber ghost gun. The investigation was handed over to the Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) Unit, which succeeded in identifying a suspect linked to the possession of the handgun during the incident.
On March 6, GIVE investigators, aided by the Patrol Division, conducted a traffic stop involving the suspect’s vehicle. Jason Butler, an 18-year-old resident of Utica, was apprehended without any complications and transported to the Utica Police Department.
Butler faces charges including Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Firearm. The arrest marks a significant development in the ongoing efforts to combat gun violence in the community.