Before another shooting incident, 56 guns turned in at Poughkeepsie buyback event
Around 3:40 p.m. Saturday, City of Poughkeepsie police received a report of shots fired and a man with a shotgun.
Earlier in the day, 33 shotguns and rifles were among 56 total guns turned in at a buyback event held in the city by police departments and the Office of the Attorney General.
The buyback came as the city continues to struggle with a rash of gun violence that, in the last month, has seen a shooting outside of Poughkeepsie High School and a man arrested on murder charges after a shooting outside a deli.
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Police Saturday arrested 55-year-old Joseph Greenfield after responding to the reported afternoon incident on North Clinton Street. Police said Greenfield fired a shotgun round during a physical altercation with another individual. He was charged with first degree reckless endangerment, a felony, and second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor.
In addition to shotguns and rifles at the buyback event at Beulah Baptist Church, 15 handguns, six assault rifles and two non-working guns were turned in. The recipients received money on prepaid cards on a sliding scale depending on the type of gun.
“Getting guns off the street and out of circulation is a priority,” Mayor Rob Rolison said in a statement sent from the Attorney General’s Office.
In addition to city police, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office and Town of Hyde Park Police took part.
The gun buyback was the second such event held at the city church in six months. On June 26, 79 guns were turned in; 47 handguns, 26 rifles and shotguns, five non-working or antique guns and one assault rifle.
“Any gun that is turned in and no longer accessible to those intent on committing acts of violence is a great benefit to the community as a whole,” city police Capt. Richard Wilson said in a statement.
This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Poughkeepsie gun buyback removes 56 guns from individuals
