New York police official charged over alleged role in courthouse-area shooting

Jennifer Lackard, 49, deputy commissioner of wellness at the Mount Vernon Police Department, was arrested on 4 August over a shooting on 29 June behind the Bronx Hall of Justice, Hindustan Times reported. An indictment charges Lackard, her husband James and their 20-year-old son Chase with more than a dozen counts, including second-degree attempted murder, firearm offences and conspiracy, alleging the three acted in concert, no one was struck when Chase allegedly fired a semiautomatic weapon from a vehicle at a group of people. Prosecutors say Jennifer drove the family to the courthouse that morning and later coordinated the pickup by text, that James positioned the vehicle behind the building, and that Chase fired through the window, the indictment also alleges Chase changed his clothing afterward to avoid identification. Lackard and Chase pleaded not guilty, she is held on $75,000 bail and has been terminated from the police department, which said the allegations are unrelated to her official duties, while James has not been apprehended.