A former New York transit police officer has been arrested after fatally shooting his wife in front of their children.
According to authorities, 43-year-old Kevin Canty has been taken into custody after shooting his 40-year-old wife Jessica Mera while their eight-year-old son and four-year-old daughter were in the house.
Neighbors reportedly alerted the authorities after the two kids ran out of the house yelling “Daddy shot mommy!” Heidi Gamble says “They came in screaming, crying saying their dad just shot their mom and there’s blood all over, please help.”
Another neighbor says “My wife heard gunshots and the kids were running out on the street. They were banging on car doors as cars were passing by. They were trying to get help, someone to listen to them.”
According to Shanique Varlack, who knew the couple, “[Canty] told more than one person – ‘I’m gonna kill this b*tch one day. Everybody is just so distraught. He’s a cop. He’s supposed to protect us. He took an oath and now? He’s a murderer. She did not deserve to die.”
Fez Atlas, who runs a deli on the couple’s block, says “I’d see him every day. I knew what he’d want when he came in. He would come in, get a pack of Newports. His wife would come in, in the morning with the kids. She’s buy the girl a bag of potato chips and the boy pistachios. Then this happened.”
Joanne Baggley was not surprised, however, saying “They were not a happy couple. They fight all the time on the block. I guess it was inevitable.”
It was inevitable that arguments would lead to a shooting?
According to witnesses, Canty then fled the home and tried to steal a car a few blocks away before he was arrested by police. He had retired from the Manhattan transit police last year after claiming a disability.
