16-year-old in Queens high school charged after loaded gun found; weapon was one of 4,000 seized this year

A 16-year-old student at Benjamin Cardozo High School in Queens has been charged with criminal possession of a weapon and making a terroristic threat after police found a loaded 9-mm Taurus GX4 pistol in his backpack Thursday, authorities said Friday.

The gun, loaded with 13 rounds, was recovered about two hours after the teen allegedly posted an ominous Instagram message threatening that he was “Boutta Shoot the School Up.” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters at a morning press conference that the post prompted the swift response and investigation that followed.

Authorities said the weapon was purchased legally by a licensed firearm permit holder in South Carolina on January 9, 2025, giving a time-to-crime of 252 days. The Joint Firearms Task Force — a partnership between the NYPD and the ATF — has opened an inquiry to determine how the gun moved from South Carolina to Queens. The investigation led officers to the teen’s home, where two additional 9-mm bullets were found that were compatible with the weapon, Tisch said. The 16-year-old Cardozo student was charged as an adolescent offender with criminal possession of a weapon and making a terroristic threat.

The mayor and police officials framed the seizure as part of a broader effort to curb gun violence in the city. “This year, we removed 4,000 illegal guns off our streets, and one of those guns was removed yesterday with a 16-year-old child that was in possession,” Mayor Eric Adams said. “Stopping the flow of guns is something that we need our federal partners to help us with, but what the police department is doing every day — zeroing in on illegal guns — the guns that we remove are saving lives.” Tisch described the milestone as the product of “persistent, highly proficient precision police work,” noting that over the past eight and a half months, NYPD officers seized an average of 15 illegal guns per day.

Officials also highlighted broader crime trends in the city. The mayor’s management report released this week showed that major crimes were down in six of seven major felony categories, a sign of improving conditions amid ongoing public-safety challenges. Tisch and Adams credited targeted NYPD deployments in the city’s high-crime “summer violence reduction zones,” as well as gang takedowns and “upstream solutions” such as youth programs and services for the formerly incarcerated, with helping to curb violence. Adams urged lawmakers and judges to do their part to keep violent offenders off the streets, stressing that the criminal-justice system must function effectively across its many components.

“The criminal justice system is made up of several components. We need our lawmakers and our judges to do their job…it can’t continue to be a revolving door each time we have a shooting and see a long list of gun charges on a person who committed the shooting,” Adams said, underscoring the need for systemic reform alongside policing.

In 2024, the city removed 6,150 illegal guns and charged 4,061 people with gun possession, according to year-end crime statistics. Since the start of Adams’ administration in 2022, officials said more than 23,700 illegal guns have been taken off the streets. While gun seizures are only one tool in the city’s violence-reduction strategy, officials say they represent a tangible step toward safer communities.