A former New York state cop who said he was shot by a stranger on a Long Island highway, leading to a large manhunt, actually shot himself and then brought the gun home, according to a prosecutor on Monday.
Thomas Mascia and his parents turned themselves in to state police on Long Island on Monday, as stated by a spokesman for the agency.
Mascia, 27, was accused of messing with evidence, falsely reporting a crime, and behaving improperly in his official role. His parents, Dorothy Mascia, 55, and Thomas Mascia, 62, who used to be a police officer in New York, have been charged with having a firearm illegally. Prosecutors said they found a modified semiautomatic gun in their bedroom.
Prosecutors say that the gun is not the one Mascia is believed to have used to shoot himself. Officials stated that his father cannot properly own a gun because he has a felony conviction.
All three pleaded not guilty and were allowed to go free without having to pay bail. Their next court date is on February 5.
Jeffrey Lichtman, a lawyer for the Mascia family, mentioned that Mascia has had “untreated mental health issues” for many years.
“There are many safer and less serious ways to get sympathy that don’t involve hurting yourself,” he said. “This situation is a tragedy caused by hidden and untreated mental health problems.” Now a whole family is suffering because of it, as often happens in these cases.
An investigation by the state police and the district attorney’s office found no proof to support Mascia’s claim that he had pulled over in the parkway to check on a broken-down vehicle. The state police also reported on Monday that they later searched the family’s home and found a gun that was illegally owned.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a news conference on Monday that Mascia faked the shooting on October 30 just hours before he claimed he was shot.
He dropped .22-caliber shell casings on the shoulder of the Southern State Parkway in West Hempstead and later drove to Hempstead Lake State Park, where he shot himself in the leg, police said.
He took the gun home where he lived with his parents and then drove back to the parkway to say that he had been shot, according to police.
His claim led to a search involving police from New York, New Jersey, and Delaware, according to Donnelly.
Prosecutors said in their lawsuit against Mascia that his actions made state police temporarily close the Southern State Parkway to look for a shooter who didn’t exist, which scared and inconvenienced the public.
Mascia said that he approached someone he thought was a stranded driver. While he was doing this, he was shot by a dark-skinned man in a black car, probably a Dodge Charger, with a temporary New Jersey license plate.
Donnelly said that state police searched for video footage to find the car that Mascia said the attacker was driving, but they could not find it. Nine shell casings were found at the scene, but no bullets were collected, she said. Investigators found out that Mascia shot himself at the park using GPS and other technology, according to Donnelly.
“The evidence we found and what was missing gave us all the information we needed,” the district attorney said. “Although Mascia tried to cover up his story, it didn’t take long for everyone to find out that it was just a made-up tale.”
She said, “He understood the fear it would cause.” But he went ahead and did it anyway. What he did is unacceptable, whether he was seeking pity, attention, or trying to help his hurt feelings.
He received treatment for a gunshot wound in his right leg, and the police held a ceremony for him when he left the hospital the day after the killing.
“Police across Long Island were relieved he was safe, and we promised to find the shooter,” Donnelly said. “But we would never do that.” The shooter we were searching for was only in Mascia’s imagination. “In his mind.”
Mascia, a trooper since 2019, has been suspended without pay since early November. This followed the state police’s announcement of a probe into a shooting, stating that no suspects were being pursued.
State Police Superintendent Steven James announced that Mascia quit on Friday. He described Mascia’s behavior as “very bad” and said it “damaged the reputation of all law enforcement.”
James said at the news conference, “I want to make it clear that the State Police do not accept this behavior, especially when a member breaks the law.”
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