You may have heard that New York State Police were looking for help finding a lost rifle. CBS says that the rifle was last seen March 16 on Route 9, near Chestertown. While there was never a lot of detail just how the Rock River AR-15 rifle went missing to begin with, officials still reached out to the public for answers and information on its whereabouts, But now, someone has finally stepped up and returned the lost rifle to police.
Police say the semi-automatic rifle was returned Tuesday, intact its black nylon carrying case, to the State Police station in Chester. The Post Star is reporting that a resident in the are found the missing rifle the day it was lost. According to officials, the resident said they didn’t know they were in possession of police property at the time. There are very few other details at this time, but state police said that an internal investigation continues.
Some outlets are reporting the town of Chester with this story, which may have some thinking of the Orange County area of the same name. However, this happened in Chestertown, which is a hamlet of a different Town of Chester, which is in Warren County,
While this somewhat off-beat story may have some scratching their heads, it has been a much more somber past couple of days for New York State Police. On Monday, state police and first responders paid tribute to State Trooper Joseph Gallagher, who succumbed to injuries he suffered December 18, 2017 on the Long Island Expressway. Trooper Gallagher was struck by a vehicle that day, while assisting another driver whose car had broken down. He later died as a result of those injuries on March 26, 2021.
First responders escorted Trooper Gallagher from Long Island back home to Buffalo, where he was laid to rest Wednesday.