A dice game led to a suspect firing a gun and police locking down a neighborhood.
Police gather on South State Street Tuesday night after a report of shots fired in the neighborhood.Syracuse, NY – Police this morning are seeking a 19-year-old Syracuse man whom they say shot a gun Tuesday while fleeing officers from a dice game on Baker Avenue.
The suspect was identified early this morning as Terry Cooper. Police asked anyone with information to call the Criminal Investigations Division at 442-5222.
Two men taken into custody last night following the incident were charged with loitering, a violation, and issued appearance tickets, Sgt. Gary Bulinski said. Their names were not immediately available.
A police quality-of-life patrol discovered the dice game about 6:15 p.m. at the 300 block of Baker Avenue, Chief Frank Fowler said Tuesday night. Three players who ran off, pursued by two officers. One of them, later identified as Cooper, ran behind a house and fired a shot, Fowler said.
Terry CooperNo one was hurt and officers said they didn’t know if the shot was aimed at police.
Police locked down the neighborhood seeking the trio. Fowler said at a 8:45 p.m. news conference that no one had been arrested but two people had been detained.
The search included checking vacant and occupied homes around the 1800 block of South State Street and the 300 block of Baker Avenue. It was completed about 11 p.m.
Once they determined the area was safe and Cooper no longer was a threat to residents, police let people return to their homes and move about the neighborhood, according to a prepared statement this morning.