By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-18 18:06:50 | Updated at 2025-01-18 23:10:37
5 hours ago
A 17-year-old Forest Hills High School student who waved a loaded gun on Instagram in a threatening manner was arrested and charged with a felony, officials confirmed.
A video obtained by The Post shows the teen handling a firearm, an ammo clip and bullets, then gyrating and waving a gun while speaking along to the words in a rap song, “Bow, bow. Somebody gotta go down.”
Classmates who saw the video posted on Jan. 7 told their parents, who then notified the school.
The NYPD’s 112th Precinct boasted on Facebook about the arrest of “an individual” found in possession of an illegal firearm and imitation gun.
The NYPD would not name the suspect, but the Queens District Attorney’s Office identified Moshe Khaimov as the “adolescent offender,” a term for youths aged 16 and 17 accused of a violent felony, and whose cases are made public.
Khaimov is charged with criminal possession of a loaded weapon, an armed felony offense, a criminal complaint states.
He is also charged with possession of a “large capacity ammunition feeding device,” and a fake gun “which substantially duplicates an actual pistol or revolver.”
Police found a 9mm semi-automatic pistol loaded with two rounds of ammunition during a search of Khaimov’s bedroom, along with another five rounds of 9mm ammunition, and a magazine with the capacity to hold 15 rounds, the complaint says.
Khaimov’s lawyer at Queens Defenders did not return The Post’s call for comment.
The NYPD brought metal detectors to Forest Hills the day after Khaimov’s arrest to search all students. The high school normally does not use scanners.
In an email to Principal Paul Wilbur, Forest Hills teacher Adam Bergstein described Khaimov as “a clear and present danger” who has struck and threatened students and staff, and brought other weapons to school.
Bergstein faulted the city Department of Education for a system of lax discipline.
“Schools are in a constant state of danger because the DOE refuses to hold students accountable for their behavior until it’s sometimes too late,” Bergstein told The Post.
“They rely on restorative justice circles instead of punishing a child when they are dangerous and clearly pose a risk to everyone in a school.”
DOE officials would not say whether Khaimov was suspended, but in an email to Bergstein and other staff members, the principal wrote: “We are currently working to ensure that our disciplinary response is in line with the gravity of the situation.”
