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The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
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Tourist Ditched Loaded Gun in Hotel Before Going to 9/11 Memorial, DA Says

 Bobby Jackson, of North Carolina, is accused of placing a handgun under a chair cushion in the lobby of the Club Quarters Hotel on April 14, cops said.
Bobby Jackson, of North Carolina, is accused of placing a handgun under a chair cushion in the lobby of the Club Quarters Hotel on April 14, cops said.
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NYPD

FINANCIAL DISTRICT — A North Carolina man accused of leaving a loaded handgun under a chair cushion in the lobby of a Downtown hotel ditched it in order to visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, police said Tuesday.

Bobby Jackson, 59, was arrested in his home in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and brought to New York to be arraigned on charges of criminal possession of a weapon and reckless endangerment in Manhattan Criminal Court Monday evening.

Police said Jackson was in NYC April 15 as a chaperone for a group of students on a tour from a North Carolina community college when group entered the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

Shortly before 2 p.m., Jackson, who was carrying a loaded weapon, allegedly asked a NYPD officer at the screening area for the 9/11 Memorial if he could bring a firearm inside — to which the cop replied, "no," according to the criminal complaint.

Moments later, Jackson was caught on camera leaving the museum and stuffing the gun into the hotel chair at the Quarters Hotel at 140 Washington St., according to the complaint.

Jackson allegedly told his tour guide after completing their tour April 15 that he had a loaded weapon, the complaint says.

Jackson's Legal Aid attorney, Richard Abraham, did not immediately return request for comment. Jackson was released without bail, and is due back in court on July 18.