ATF, Mount Vernon Police Make Arrest In Memorial Day Shootout

MOUNT VERNON, NY — MVPD Detectives and the ATF arrested a man in connection with a May 31, shootout near West 3rd Street in the city.

Gladstone Dankin from Eastchester was taken into custody in the Bronx on Tuesday. The 33-year-old is believed to have taken part in a Memorial Day gunfight.

The bizarre incident unfolded at the end of the holiday weekend, just before 5 p.m. The violence started when a 33-year-old Mount Vernon man was shot inside of a West 3rd Street business. The victim was able to flee the shop and seek help, but after the victim escaped, even more gunplay erupted.

The shooter, who police later identified as Santano Williams, left the shop, but as he walked away, the 42-year-old was confronted by another man, who was later identified by investigators as Dankin.

The two men exchanged gunfire in the street. Neither Williams nor Dankin were wounded and both eventually fled the area on foot.

Mount Vernon Police learned that the original victim from the shop had been transported to the Montefiore Hospital Wakefield Campus emergency room in the Bronx. He had suffered gunshot wounds to his leg and abdomen and was later transferred to the trauma center at Jacobi Hospital.

Williams was arrested on unrelated weapons possession charges in New York City on July 5, according to police. He is being held by the New York City Department of Corrections and is scheduled to be arraigned on felony weapons and assault charges early next week, in Mount Vernon City Court.

Meanwhile, Dankin was taken into custody on Tuesday by members of the Mount Vernon Police Department and ATF. Dankin was later arraigned on charges of felony attempted assault and felony criminal possession of a weapon.

Dankin was remanded to the Westchester County Jail. He has a criminal history that includes weapons and narcotics possession, according to officials.