{"id":314981,"date":"2026-08-06T05:46:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T05:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/314981\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T05:46:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T05:46:53","slug":"mount-vernon-public-safety-official-fired-arrested-after-allegedly-helping-son-carry-out-shooting-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/314981\/","title":{"rendered":"Mount Vernon public safety official fired, arrested after allegedly helping son carry out shooting attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colin Mixson
New York Daily News<\/p>\n

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. \u2014 A high-ranking official with the Mount Vernon Police Department accused of participating in an attempted gang hit outside a Bronx courthouse gave her gun-toting son explicit instructions on how to carry out the would-be hit and even told him via text on where to stand and other logistics, a bombshell indictment released Tuesday shows.<\/p>\n

As they waited outside the Bronx Hall of Justice near E. 162nd St. and Grand Ave. on June 29, Chase Lackard and his mother Jennifer Lackard, the MVPD\u2019s Deputy Commissioner of Public Safety<\/a>, exchanged texts as they mapped out the would-be hit, the indictment states.<\/p>\n

| RELATED: Choose the right real-time policing model for your agency<\/a><\/p>\n

Chase, 20, texted his 49-year-old mother, \u201cBe directly in front when I leave,\u201d according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen?\u201d his mother texted back, according to the indictment. \u201cYou can\u2019t just sit directly outside. It has to be timed right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chase then donned a black mask and entered a tan Chrysler Pacifica with his mother and father, James Lackard, who drove the pair in circles around the Bronx Hall of Justice for about 45 minutes before pulling up behind the courthouse, where Chase fired through a rolled-down window from the car\u2019s backseat, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

No one was injured in the attack.<\/p>\n

Following the shooting, Jennifer switched seats with her husband and drove her family to Soundview, where her son changed clothes before entering a nearby residential building on Boynton Ave, the indictment notes.<\/p>\n

His mother and father then drove to a nearby parking lot, where they ditched the Chrysler before walking to a black SUV also parked there, court documents show.<\/p>\n

Jennifer and her son were arrested Tuesday when police at 5:30 a.m. showed up with a warrant at their home in the Soundview section of the Bronx, police said. Jennifer has been fired from her position \u201ceffective immediately,\u201d the Mount Vernon Police Department said in a statement hours after her arrest.<\/p>\n

The incident was linked to gang tensions, police said.<\/p>\n

James Lackard is currently in North Carolina, officials said. It was not immediately clear if he was in custody Tuesday.<\/p>\n

In November 2024, the son, who authorities say is a member of the \u201cSlutty Gang,\u201d was shot in Soundview by NYPD cops. Officers responding to a clash at the Stevenson Commons residential tower on White Plains Road near Lafayette Ave. saw him waving a gun, police said at the time.<\/p>\n

Chase was shot twice in the leg by police after he allegedly pointed his .9-mm pistol at officers, police said. He was later charged with criminal use of a firearm and menacing a police officer.<\/p>\n

Jennifer\u2019s husband James Lackard was arrested in North Carolina on federal drug trafficking charges in 2012, and Lackard said she used her experiences during the time he was locked up to help mentor wives whose husbands are incarcerated.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The federal government has shown a likelihood that the state\u2019s measures go against the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, a federal judge wrote\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The 2025 incident occurred when Rajon Belt-Stubblefield fled a traffic stop and crashed his vehicle; Officer Matthew Neely and Belt-Stubblefield fought physically before the shooting unfolded\n <\/p>\n

August 04, 2026 12:05 PM<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"680326728_1444808231019968_3266409421690302368_n.jpg\"<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Three of the West Palm Beach officers were captains accused of logging \u201coff-duty\u201d shifts while on the clock for standard department shifts, Chief Tony Araujo stated\n <\/p>\n

August 04, 2026 12:27 PM<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The suspect grabbed the Eustis Police officer by her vest as she tried to remove him from his vehicle, dragging her as he fled, according to an arrest report\n <\/p>\n

August 04, 2026 01:24 PM<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com<\/a>. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Cybergenetics<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\n The same DNA data connected firearm evidence to an armed robbery suspect, without retesting the evidence\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Colin MixsonNew York Daily News MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. \u2014 A high-ranking official with the Mount Vernon Police…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-314981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}