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Man Caught With Assault Rifles Said He Wanted to Die in Combat, Police Say

By  Danielle Tcholakian and Murray Weiss | July 3, 2014 10:12am | Updated on July 3, 2014 11:01am

 These weapons were found in a car driving the wrong way down Seventh Avenue early Wednesday morning, police said.
These weapons were found in a car driving the wrong way down Seventh Avenue early Wednesday morning, police said.
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NYPD

WEST VILLAGE — A man who was driving the wrong way on Seventh Avenue early Wednesday was caught with assault rifles, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and several knives — and police found a note in his car saying he wanted to die in combat, police said.

In the note found in the console of the car, Victor Greer, 46, of Reading, Pennsylvania, wrote: “I want to die in combat and want to go to heaven and meet god,” sources said. The note also mentioned his cats, his parents and his favorite movies, police said.

Police spotted Greer's white 2014 Chevrolet Cruze driving north on Seventh Avenue, against traffic, about 1:10 a.m., police said. They stopped Greer at Grove Street, and when he was unable to produce any paperwork, they asked him to step out of the car.

Officers then saw two knives on the floor by the driver's seat and found a third on Greer. A search of the car yielded a partially loaded 25-round capacity .22 caliber magazine, as well as several more rounds of .22 caliber ammunition, including a full box of 50 rounds.

New York State gun laws prohibit any magazine carrying more than seven rounds of ammunition. 

The officers arrested Greer and brought him and the car to the 6th Precinct, where the NYPD's Bomb Squad searched the trunk and found two unloaded assault rifles, an AR-15 Colt M4 and a .45 caliber Hi Point Model 4595. They also discovered a loaded 12-gauge shotgun, an unloaded black 9-millimeter semi-automatic handgun, a bottle rocket, boxes with more than 400 rounds of ammunition, and drug paraphernalia.

A background check revealed Greer has four prior arrests, including three in Pennsylvania and one in Florida, police said. It was unclear what the arrests were for.

Police said he rented the car in New York City on June 28.

Greer was charged with four counts of criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of criminal possession of assault rifles, four counts of criminal possession of ammunition clips, four counts of criminal possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of marijuana

Greer is a civil engineer who has been out of work for a few years, sources said. Greer's parents told police their son is reclusive and sometimes behaves strangely, spending most of his time in his bedroom, according to sources.

Greer had not been arraigned by Thursday morning, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office.