A suspicious device was seized in Gravesend during a search warrant carried out by the NYPD and the Homeland Security Investigations’ JFK Task Force, police sources say. A person of interest is in custody.
The NYPD’s bomb squad and its emergency service unit responded to a 911 call for a suspicious device around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday at 2525 West 2nd St.
The device was transported to the NYPD’s Tactical Training Center in Rodman’s Neck for testing.
A large police scene took over the residential block, which was sectioned off with crime tape for hours as helicopters circled overhead.
Cellphone video given to News 12 showed investigators – covered head to toe in protective gear – as they removed a black box from a co-op building on West 2nd Street near Avenue Yin Gravesend.
“A big bomb truck pulled up, and that’s not something that you see every day,” said Joseph, a neighbor who asked to only give his first name.
Andrew, who did not give his last name but said he lived across the hall, told News 12 that the situation caught him off guard.
“He did smoke weed, so you would smell it,” Andrew said. “So, I thought someone complained or something, but when I heard Homeland Security, I was confused.”
An NYPD spokesperson told News 12 on Wednesday night that a person of interest was in custody, but the NYPD had not released the person’s name because, so far, no official arrests had been made.
“I haven’t had much conversation with [the person of interest],” said Andrew. “He seemed fine, he’s friendly. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Neighbors said they were forced to evacuate their co-op complex and spend about six hours outside as a precaution.
“It’s scary stuff,” said Joseph. “You don’t really know sometimes who your neighbors are.”