Updated at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday
Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway says two teenagers have been arrested and charged with attempted murder and weapons charges after an undercover sheriff's detective was shot at Monday night in the town of DeWitt. Conway said a 15-year-old and 16-year-old allegedly approached the undercover detective's vehicle at the Springfield Gardens apartment complex in what police believe was an attempted robbery. The detective was there to purchase heroin from another suspect, but did not make the purchase. The 16-year-old is being held at the Onondaga County Justice Center. The 15-year-old is being held at Hillbrook Juvenile Detention Center.
Original story
Police continue to search for two men who they say shot at an undercover sheriff's detective Monday night at an apartment complex in the town of DeWitt.
Onondaga County Sheriff Gene Conway says the detective went to the Springfield Garden apartment complex to purchase heroin, but before he could make the purchase, two males approached the detective's vehicle and started firing. The detective drove away and called for backup. He was treated for minor injuries from broken glass fragments at Upstate University Hospital and released late Monday. It's not known how many shots were fired or if both suspects had guns.
Conway said it's unclear if the suspects knew whether or not the detective was in fact a police officer, but he said this shooting points to a larger issue.
"Whether they realized it was a law enforcement officer or not really is not relevant in this case," he said. "We had two people walk up to a vehicle that was occupied with the sole intent of harming or killing the person inside that vehicle. And that should be a cause for concern for all of us."
This is just the latest incident to occur at this apartment complex, which is located across the street from Le Moyne College. Most recently, a Syracuse University student from China was shot and killed at the complex last September during a drug robbery. Several other drug related incidents have taken place at the apartment complex in recent years.
One person was arrested after the incident. Jose Marcano, 31, of Caton Drive in DeWitt, was charged with the sale and possession of drugs. Conway says Marcano was the target of the undercover operation, but even though the sale did not go through, he was arrested based on a previous incident.
