NYPD arrest East Rockaway resident for allegedly threatening to shoot at a Queens children's hospital

An East Rockaway man was arrested on Feb. 17 after allegedly threatening to shoot his estranged wife inside a children’s hospital in Queens while she was holding the couple’s 2-year old daughter.

According to the New York City Police Department, Thomas Saxton, 34, who lives on Baisley Avenue in East Rockaway, threatened to open fire inside Cohen Children’s Medical Center, on the boarder of Queens and Nassau County. Police said they later found a cache of guns, ammunition and bulletproof vests at his home and in his car.

The NYPD received a call at around noon on Feb. 17, alerting officers that Saxton had pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot his wife inside the hospital as she held their daughter. In an email to the Herald, NYPD spokeswoman Sophia Mason described the incident.

“Upon arrival, responding officers obtained a description of the subject’s car and encountered the vehicle outside of the hospital,” she wrote. “A 34-year-old male was arrested and multiple loaded firearms were recovered.”

Mason added that the investigation was continuing.

In a statement, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said that in Saxton’s car, officers discovered two loaded “ghost guns,” untraceable firearms that are constructed out of parts purchased online. After the discovery, they took Saxton into custody. Police also discovered additional weapons and ammo when they searched his home in the village.

“This defendant allegedly threatened to shoot his wife in a hospital that specializes in treating children,” Katz said. “This potentially deadly threat was made all the more frightening when police found illegal and untraceable firearms on the defendant. This growing prevalence of ‘ghost guns’ is adding to the chaos and bloodshed in our neighborhoods. My office will continue to do everything possible to stop the flow of these and all illegal firearms. The defendant has been apprehended and now faces very serious charges.”

According to Katz, after pulling the gun out and threatening to shoot his wife, Saxton told her that he would kill her in front of all the people at the hospital. He then walked out of the hospital and called her on her phone, threatening her again and telling her he would kill her in her sleep. When police arrived, Saxton allegedly dropped a loaded magazine on the ground in the hospital’s parking lot, and police recovered a loaded 10mm pistol, a 9 mm pistol and ammunition for both firearms, as well as a plastic bag containing cocaine and Saxton’s wallet.

The case is being prosecuted by the district attorney’s Domestic Violence Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Appelbaum, Acting Bureau Chief Audra Beerman, Deputy Bureau Chief Mary Kate Quinn, Assistant Deputy Bureau Chief Howard McCallum and Daniel Saunders, the supervisor and executive assistant district attorney for major crimes.

Saxton was arraigned in front of a Queens criminal court judge on Feb. 19 and faced 14 charges. He was denied bail and was expected back in court on Tuesday, after the Herald went to press.

Charges included second- and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon; criminal possession of a firearm; second-degree menacing; seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance; second-degree aggravated harassment; endangering the welfare of a child; and unlawful possession of pistol or revolver ammunition.

If convicted, Saxton faces up to 15 years in prison.