The NYPD said the department has made an arrest in the homicide investigation following the fatal shooting of a man in the Pelham Gardens section of The Bronx.

 

Pursuant to an ongoing investigation, police said on Dec. 29 that Matthew Rushie, 46, of Morgan Avenue, The Bronx was arrested on Friday, Dec. 23, 2022 at 1 p.m. in the 49th Precinct. He was charged with murder, manslaughter and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon (a loaded firearm).

 

Police had previously said that on Saturday, Dec. 17, at around 7.29 p.m., officers responded to a 911 call regarding a man who had been shot at 2931 Morgan Avenue.

 

“Upon arrival, police observed a 39-year-old male with a gunshot wound to his chest,” an NYPD spokesperson said. “EMS transported the man to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, where he was pronounced deceased.” The spokesperson added, “There are no arrests at this time. The investigation is ongoing.”

 

The deceased was identified on Dec. 29 as Dillon St. Clair, 39, of Pelham Gardens, The Bronx.

 

On Dec. 27, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) took steps to close the ‘ghost gun’ loophole by issuing an open letter to assist the firearms industry and the public in understanding whether certain semiautomatic, striker-fired pistols (sometimes referred to as “Glock-type” pistols) have reached a stage of manufacture such that they “may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted” to a functional frame, and are therefore classified as “frames” or “firearms” in accordance with the final rule titled definition of ‘frame or receiver’ and identification of firearms (Final Rule 2021R-05F) in the law which became effective August 24, 2022.

 

In response, on Dec. 28, New York City Mayor Eric Adams released the following statement. “The numbers don’t lie; the proliferation of ghost guns in New York City and in big cities across the nation is the fastest-growing, gun safety problem facing our country,” the mayor said. “This year alone, the NYPD has recovered more than 430 ghost guns, the highest number in city history, and a staggering 2,400-percent increase from the 17 recovered in 2018.”

 

He continued, “Our administration has taken aggressive action against ghost gun manufacturers, but the existing loophole that enables vendors to sell near-complete frames and receivers that are easily converted into operational and untraceable firearms is substantially undermining our efforts, taking lives, and helping criminals avoid prosecution.”

 

Adams said he applauded the Biden-Harris administration, and ATF specifically, for taking what he said was a commonsense step to regulating the sale of deadly weapons, and closing a longstanding loophole that he said has contributed to the increase in violent crime across the country. “We know that nothing can bring back the victims of gun violence, but this action will help spare more families the heartbreak of losing a loved one to these deadly and untraceable weapons,” he said.

 

Earlier this year, Adams spoke with ATF director, Steven Dettelbach, about closing the ghost gun loophole. This past summer, the City of New York filed a lawsuit against five companies that were unlawfully selling ghost gun kits to New Yorkers. Four of the companies agreed to stop the unlawful behavior, while the courts issued a preliminary injunction to stop the last company’s illegal behavior.

 

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.