A man who the police said inadvertently discharged a gun at a wedding at the Waldorf Astoria hotel on Saturday has been charged with reckless endangerment and other offenses.
A ricocheting bullet struck and injured one person during the episode at the hotel in Midtown Manhattan, the police said. Three other people were hurt in the ensuing spray of glass, marble and tile.
The man who had the gun, Vladimir Gotlibovsky, 42, of Mill Basin, Brooklyn, tried to have the gun, a 9-millimeter pistol, removed from the scene after it went off, a police spokesman said. In addition to reckless endangerment, Mr. Gotlibovsky was charged with assault and evidence tampering, the police said.
He was carrying the gun in his right front pants pocket when it fired, with a bullet hitting the floor, a spokesman for the Police Department said. It was recovered at his home. The police said it was not clear under what circumstances the gun was discharged.
Mr. Gotlibovsky was not charged with criminal possession of a weapon, which indicates that he had a valid permit for the firearm, a spokesman for the Police Department said.
Mr. Gotlibovsky’s brother, Felix Gotlibovsky, 51, also of Mill Basin, was taken into custody, and later charged with evidence tampering and criminal possession of a weapon.
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SOURCE: TATIANA SCHLOSSBERG
The New York Times
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