TROY, N.Y. — Troy police recently intervened in a violent domestic incident, and pursued and captured the involved suspect who possessed a loaded, illegal handgun at the time of his arrest.
Troy police recently received an emergency call reporting a violent domestic incident occurring in Lansingburgh. It was reported that a male suspect, later identified as Murat T. Gibson, 39, of Troy, committed a robbery while displaying a handgun at the victim’s residence while a child victim was also present. As the officers responded the dispatchers at the Rensselaer County Bureau of Public Safety updated all responders that Gibson fled the scene in a U-Haul box truck. As some officers continued to respond to the scene to aid the adult female victim additional responding officers observed the suspect vehicle in the area of Jay Street and 6th Avenue in Troy. Officers initiated a traffic stop and the suspect fled in the box truck.
Due to the violent actions reported the patrol officers pursued Gibson onto alternate route 7. The pursuit continued westbound on the highway and the suspect eventually led officers south on Interstate 87. Gibson crashed the box truck soon thereafter and fled on foot into a wooded area adjacent to the highway. Patrol officers continued their pursuit on foot, eventually locating Gibson in the wooded area and taking him into custody after a brief struggle. Gibson was found with a loaded, illegal firearm tucked into his waistband at the time of his arrest. Gibson received a minor injury during the incident, was evaluated by members of the Troy Fire Department, and refused any further medical assistance. No other individuals sustained any injury during the incident.
Gibson was brought to the Troy police station for processing and was held pending arraignment in Troy City Court on Wednesday morning. Gibson is a supervised NYS parolee, having been originally convicted of second-degree attempted murder and attempted promotion of prison contraband.
Gibson was charged with felony first-degree robbery, felony second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, misdemeanor obstructing governmental administration, misdemeanor reckless driving, misdemeanor second-degree menacing, misdemeanor fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, misdemeanor resisting arrest, misdemeanor endangering the welfare of a child, felony criminal use of a firearm and felony first-degree burglary.
“Again, your Troy Police Patrol Officers have intervened in a violent scenario and risked their personal safety in order to capture an individual intent on engaging in reckless & violent behaviors. These officers, without hesitation, pursued an individual that willingly possessed an illegal handgun and reportedly used the same during a domestic incident. These officers did so because they believe in their purpose and the community they serve. Troy Police Officers continue their efforts, in the midst of ongoing national violent crime & firearm discussions, because they care deeply about the neighborhoods they patrol and feel a sense of responsibility to the victims. Again, officers were tasked with apprehending an individual who chose to engage in violence with an illegal firearm and the officers were able to capture the defendant without significant injury to our community, our officers or the involved suspect. We are grateful no individuals received serious injury last night as the potential certainly existed. My hope is the actions of the involved officers once again demonstrate our commitment to doing our very best to keep our community safe,” Troy Assistant Chief of Police Steven Barker said in a statement.
“I also would like to thank our Rensselaer County Dispatchers for managing communications during a critical incident, and to our law enforcement partners at the Colonie Police Department and the New York State Police who both assisted during the response,” Barker added.