For the Police Department, most news in the aftermath of the shooting has been good: Livewell underwent minor surgery Monday and is resting comfortably, according to Deputy Police Commissioner William Blackburn. De Jesus, who was arrested Thursday at the scene, and one passenger - 27-year-old Anel Cuenas, who was located Monday morning on the 3300 block of Potter Street - are now in custody, charged with two counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault, among other infractions.
Investigators, Blackburn said, are working to identify the third individual.
But the incident, Testa acknowledged, also begs a sobering question: How can police possibly contend with this sort of firepower?
Cuenas and another man dropped two assault rifles, an AK-47 and SKS carbine, and a Glock pistol before fleeing Thursday night. Inside the van, police recovered two Bushmaster AR-15 assault-type rifles, a Taurus PT24 pistol, a TEC-9 semiautomatic pistol, and another Glock. Blackburn said the arsenal was unlike anything he'd seen in his nearly 30 years on the job.
Bullets from the assault rifles, Testa added, travel up to 3,000 feet per second - nearly three times the speed of sound. They can puncture a standard police vest. And even someone wearing a SWAT-style flak jacket, weighing up to 60 pounds, may still face serious injury or death from the kinetic energy generated by the rifles.
"You have to rely on your training and your street sense," Testa said. "A prayer doesn't hurt, either."
While armor technology continues to evolve with modern weaponry, police resources are often limited.
The department is always "looking for an edge," he said. "A lot of it costs money. Sometimes there are certain things that you just can't prepare against."
