A new $103,000 3D printer capable of making parts for “ghost guns” disappeared off the MTA Brooklyn railroad tracks earlier this year — and has yet to be found, The Post has learned.
The printer was delivered to the Pitkin train station on March 24 but was not reported missing until 12 days later, on April 5, said a source familiar with the investigation into what was suspected to be theft.
According to two sources familiar with the investigation, the MTA inspector general focused his investigation on the missing device on a group of shipyard inspectors.
Surveillance footage from the camera in the loading dock where the printer was shipped “mysteriously disappeared,” a source said.
The device – which can be used to make parts for so-called ghost weapons made and sold on the black market – has survived, the sources said.
“It could be used to print firearm parts,” they warned. “The lack of oversight here has cost the agency more than $100,000 and has the potential to harm people.”
A representative from MTA IG confirmed that an investigation is ongoing.
A source close to the investigation said MTA workers questioned about the pressure strike were not asked if it could be used to make ghost weapons.
“Most of the interviews have to do with supervisors,” the source said. “It has to be a manager who knows what’s in the box – someone who will approve orders and have access to multiple keys.
“Investigators didn’t ask about ghost weapons. Transit workers don’t make spirit weapons,” the insider added.
“They asked the workers, ‘What do you do with a 3D printer?’ Printers are used to make parts for trains instead of going to catalogs.”
An MTA representative confirmed that the printer was “stolen”. The Transport Authority, which has faced a spike in shootings, many of them fatal, in recent months, did not immediately comment on how such a potentially dangerous item could be easily stolen.
“The MTA is aware of the theft of a 3D printer from the Brooklyn Railyard and is taking immediate action to investigate it,” MTA spokesman Dave Steckel said in a statement.
“We appreciate that the inspector general’s office is also contributing its resources to establishing facts in favor of law enforcement.”
MTA officials also on Thursday condemned the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn New York’s 100-year law that restricted the carriage of concealed firearms.
“The presence of weapons in a sensitive location such as the New York transit system is an unacceptable risk,” MTA General Counsel Paige Graves said in a statement.
“In light of this Supreme Court decision, we have begun to develop appropriate rules to keep dangerous weapons away from our subways, buses and commuter trains.”
The NYPD confirmed that officers were investigating the break-in at Pitkin’s yard and set the printer cost at $103,000.
No arrests were made.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore
https://nypost.com/2022/06/23/3d-printer-capable-of-making-guns-goes-missing-from-mta-yard/ 3D printer capable of making weapons disappear from MTA shipyard
