Forensic tests could not prove a bullet fragment that allegedly struck a Greenburgh woman in her leg came from a nearby shooting range business, but a town police investigation concluded it had.
The Westchester County Police Revolver and Rifle League on Ardsley Road was shut down this summer after a woman claimed she was hit by a bullet fragment on June 12 at a playground in Ardsley Chase, a new housing development built next door to the 70-year-old firing range.
The police report filed Sept. 16 by Detective Ed Demelo determined the fragment came from one of two shooters at the range who were firing at a metal target that a range employee later told police was inappropriate for use there.
“The type of metal target used by the shooter and placed into the dirt berm gradually gave way causing the ammunition to strike it at an angle creating a condition for the rounds to ricochet,” the report said.
The report documented hundreds of other bullet fragments in the area outside of the contained firing area. The distance from the shooting station to the playground area was 486 feet, with a difference in height of 38 feet.
The Town Board considered an ordinance for gun ranges that if approved would have prohibited gun ranges from being within a certain distance from residential homes or schools, forcing the business to close. Consolidated Edison, which owns the property, terminated the lease with the range in August before the Town Board voted on the ordinance and the would-be law has not been taken up since.
In a letter to range members over the summer, treasurer Scott Palmer said the business had accepted its fate and would close permanently. The letter said Con Edison had leased the land for only $1 per year and that the range was founded by active and retired police officers in 1941 to “enjoy their sport and hone their skills.”
“We have kept true to those founding principles and we are deeply saddened having to see its time come to an end,” he said.
Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, a Democrat, said he had shifted his focus from the town regulation to lobbying the state to create a law to license firing ranges. Lead contamination in the soil from spent bullets is a concern, and even before Con Edison announced the termination of the range”™s lease, the town had asked that the business remediate the lead in the soil around the perimeter of the property before it reopened.
“I still believe that the town should regulate local ranges but the board has not felt the need to rush into this since no outdoor ranges exist in town and no outdoor ranges are permitted,” he said.
After police began investigating whether a bullet fragment hit the woman, whose name is blocked out of the report, neighbors sought to close the range while members and advocates said the location was safe and questioned how the fragment could have ended up there.
Ardsley Chase, a 24-unit housing subdivision built by Toll Brothers, came decades after the range. Some residents said the developer”™s permits should have come with conditions that included increased buffers for noise and safety for the nearby homes.
Robert Bernstein, an attorney and president of the neighborhood civic group The Edgemont Community Council, drafted the ordinance, which would require a quarter-mile between outdoor firing ranges and any public spaces or homes. It would also require ranges to obtain $5 million worth of liability insurance.
“This is not barring all outdoor ranges in Greenburgh, this is not barring all firing ranges in Greenburgh, but it tries to strike a balance to protect the rights of residents who have moved in and are entitled to peace and quiet in the neighborhood, too, just like everybody else,” he said.
