A Mount Vernon deputy police commissioner was arrested Tuesday in connection with an alleged Bronx gang shooting involving her 20-year-old son, according to police and law-enforcement sources. Investigators say Jennifer Lackard drove Chase Lackard away after the shooting, turning a family connection into the center of a serious criminal case.
Police and sources say the case traces back to June 29, when Chase allegedly fired at a group of rivals near the Bronx Criminal Court. He then entered his mother’s car, investigators say, and the pair were arrested Tuesday after police served a search warrant at their Soundview home, according to the New York Post. Both were charged with attempted murder, conspiracy, criminal possession of a firearm, attempted assault and reckless endangerment, but neither had been arraigned as of Tuesday.
The City of Mount Vernon lists Lackard as its deputy police commissioner, a public-safety leadership role focused on the department’s reform and community initiatives. Her official position gives the case an unusual profile, though the allegations against her do not by themselves establish misconduct in her police duties.
Chase Lackard has also been connected to earlier Bronx gun incidents. News 12 reported that he was 17 when he was shot in the chest during a January 2023 dispute on a BX5 bus, after police said he flashed gang signs, asked several youths about their affiliation and tried to pull one of them from the bus. In November 2024, the outlet reported that he was shot in the leg by NYPD officers during another Bronx confrontation involving a firearm.
The latest arrests come as New York City is reporting historically low levels of gun violence overall. The NYPD said the city recorded 322 shooting incidents and 381 shooting victims during the first half of 2026, while major crime in the Bronx fell 12% year over year, according to the department’s July crime update. Those figures offer a broad trend line, not much comfort for investigators handling an alleged gang shooting in Soundview.
What The Charges Mean
Conspiracy charges generally allege that two or more people agreed to commit a crime, rather than proving that the underlying offense has already been established in court. New York’s Penal Law defines conspiracy as an agreement to engage in or cause the performance of criminal conduct, while the state’s weapons statute treats possession of a loaded firearm under specified circumstances as criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a class C felony, according to New York’s statutory code.
The next major step is arraignment, when prosecutors formally present the charges and a judge addresses bail and other conditions. Until then, the case remains at the allegation stage, and the evidence supporting the claimed getaway role and the shooting itself will be tested through the court process.
