The teen accused of fatally shooting a New York girl who was walking home from school on Friday was using a so-called “ghost gun,” WABC-TV reports.
The weapon is an untraceable firearm that can be built at home using kits and materials purchased online.
As CrimeOnline reported previously, authorities allege that 17-year-old Jeremiah Ryan fired the gun on Friday afternoon in the South Bronx while arguing with others.
As Ryan was shooting the weapon, three students were hit by the gunfire: 16-year-old Angellyh Yambo, another 16-year-old girl, and a 17-year-old boy. Yambo was killed and the two other teens were injured but are expected to survive.
Yambo had just left Bronx Preparatory Charter School and is believed to have been walking to her home just a few blocks away.
Investigators do not believe that the students were the intended targets.
Ryan, who has no criminal record, faces charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder, manslaughter and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. He is expected to be charged as an adult and is scheduled to appear in court Monday.
Also Monday, the Biden administration is expected to announce new regulations on ghost guns. The proposed new rule, which was planned before Yambo’s death, would expand the definition of a “firearm” under the Gun Control Act to cover gun assembly kits purchased online or from gun dealers, according to ABC News.
Commercial manufacturers must be licensed and apply serial numbers to the kit materials; such manufacturers would also need to be licensed and conduct background checks on customers.
The rule would further require gun dealers to put serial numbers on ghost guns when they have them in stock so the firearms can be traced.
“Right now when you buy these pieces, you can buy the barrel, the stock, trigger with no serial numbers and no requirement that the seller do a background check,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) said, according to WABC-TV. “There is an epidemic of ghost guns now flowing into New York City and Long Island, and we have to do something to stop it.”
Meanwhile, funeral services for Yambo are expected to be held on Tuesday. Grief counselors will also be on hand at Yambo’s school.
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[Feature Photo: Angellyh Yambo/Handout]
