ITHACA, N.Y. — Multiple police agencies are looking for a weapon in the Cayuga Inlet Thursday related to a recent crime, police said.

“They are in a dive operation. We are actively looking for a weapon,” Ithaca Police Chief Pete Tyler said.

IPD, the New York State Police Dive Team, Cornell University Police Department, and the local branch of the FBI arrived at the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, directly across from the Ithaca Children’s Garden, around 9 a.m. for the operation.

At the scene, about a dozen vehicles were parked along the shoulder of the road and trail. Closest to the water, large black, windowless vans were parked with yellow crime scene tape tied to them.

At least two divers were in the water around 1 p.m. apparently inverted as they searched the bottom of the inlet.

Police found and then bagged a long gun at the inlet around 1:30 p.m.  It’s unclear if that is the specific weapon police are looking for. Divers stayed in the water and kept searching.

Tyler said police will continue searching the area Thursday and possibly Friday, depending on what potential evidence they find at the inlet. He declined to release additional details regarding the incident.

All photos by Jolene Almendarez/The Ithaca Voice

Police vehicles are parked along the Waterfront Trail as police search for a weapon in the inlet Thursday.
A local FBI agent, New York State Police forensics investigator, and FBI Special Agent David Schutz walk toward the area where a diver found a long gun in the inlet.
A long gun found in the inlet is bagged by a NYSP diver and handed off to an IPD officer.
An IPD officer and FBI agent double-bag a long gun found in the inlet Thursday.

Jolene Almendarez is Managing Editor at The Ithaca Voice. She can be reached at jalmendarez@ithacavoice.com; you can learn more about her at the links in the top right of this box.