According to a prosecutor on Monday, a former New York state trooper who claimed he was wounded by an unidentified shooter on a Long Island roadway, sparking a multistate manhunt, had shot himself and hidden the weapon at home.
According to an agency representative, Thomas Mascia and his parents turned themselves in to Long Island state police on Monday.
Mascia, 27, was accused of official misconduct, falsifying reports of a crime, and tampering with evidence. After a pistol was discovered in their bedroom, his parents, Dorothy Mascia, 55, and Thomas Mascia, 62, a former officer with the New York Police Department, were each charged with one count of criminal possession of a firearm. According to investigators, his father is not legally permitted to possess a firearm because he is a convicted criminal.
After entering not guilty pleas, all three were freed on their own recognizance. February 5 is the date of their upcoming court date.
Jeffrey Lichtman, a lawyer representing the Mascia family, claimed that Mascia had been dealing with untreated mental health problems for years.
According to him, there are numerous less drastic and risky methods to win people over that don’t include shooting oneself. The catastrophe in this case was brought on by invisible and untreated mental health conditions. As is customary in these circumstances, a whole family is currently suffering as a result of it.
The state police said Monday that a search of the family’s home turned up a firearm that was illegally possessed, but that an investigation by the district attorney’s office and state police found no evidence to support Mascia’s claim that he had stopped in the parkway’s median to check on a disabled vehicle.
At a press conference on Monday, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly stated that Mascia staged the incident on October 30 just hours before he claimed to have been shot.
According to officials, he went to Hempstead Lake State Park after dropping.22-caliber shell casings on the shoulder of the Southern State Parkway in West Hempstead. There, he shot himself in the leg.
Officials say he then drove back to the parkway to report that he had been shot after leaving the gun at the house he shared with his parents.
According to Donnelly, his allegation triggered a manhunt that involved law officers from Delaware, New Jersey, and New York.
In the criminal complaint against Mascia, prosecutors said that his activities caused public fear and annoyance by forcing state police to temporarily close the Southern State Parkway in an attempt to find the fictitious shooter.
Mascia had stated that a dark-skinned man in a black automobile, likely a Dodge Charger, with a temporary New Jersey license plate shot him as he approached what he thought was a stranded motorist.
The car Mascia claimed the alleged attacker was driving was not found despite state police conducting a thorough video canvassing effort, according to Donnelly. According to her, nine shot casings were discovered at the location, but no projectiles were located. Using GPS and other data, investigators were able to establish that Mascia had shot himself at the park, according to Donnelly.
According to the district attorney, the evidence that was found and the lack of proof provided us with all the information we required. Everyone quickly realized that Mascia’s terrifying tale was merely a complex piece of fiction, despite his best efforts to conceal his identity.
He was aware of the terror it would arouse, she said. Nevertheless, he did it. What he did is unacceptable, regardless of whether it was done to gain attention, sympathy, or to soothe a wounded ego.
In 2019, Mascia was promoted to trooper.
He received treatment for a gunshot wound to his right leg, and a day after the shooting, he was released from the hospital with a ceremony hosted by local officers.
We pledged to find the violent person who shot him, and law enforcement around Long Island rejoiced that he was safe,” Donnelly added. However, we would never. Because the gunman we were all searching for was only in Mascia’s imagination. In his head.
Mascia resigned on Friday, according to State Police Superintendent Steven James. He described Mascia’s actions as outrageous and claimed that they damaged law enforcement’s standing generally.
During the press conference, James stated, “I will make it clear that the State Police do not tolerate such conduct, especially wrongdoing when a member breaks the law.”