ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — An Associated Press investigation into firearms missing from the U.S. armed services has linked a stolen Army service pistol to four shootings in Albany.
The Army couldn’t say how its 9mm Beretta got to New York’s capital, where authorities tied it to shootings in 2017 and 2018.
Until police recovered the Beretta M9 in June 2018, following a foot chase, the Army didn’t even realize someone had stolen the gun. Inventory records checked by investigators said the M9 was 600 miles away — safe inside Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
“One gun creates a ton of devastation,” Albany County District Attorney Soares said. “And then it puts it on local officials, local law enforcement, to have to work extra hard to try to remove those guns from the community.”
The pistol was among at least 1,900 U.S. military firearms that AP learned were unaccounted for during the last decade. Intended for war, some guns ended up on America’s streets.
Military officials say missing firearms are a tiny fraction of their stockpile, and note that some are recovered.
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Email AP’s Global Investigations Team at investigative@ap.org.
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