Local Man Named in N.Y. Shootings

Federal authorities yesterday identified a Cambridge man as one of four suspects seized in New York state this week in connection with a robbery attempt Tuesday that left an armored-car guard and two policemen dead.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials said police Wednesday captured David Joseph Gilbert, age 37, of Cambridge, as a suspect in the killings, which have been linked to the radical Weather Underground movement that grew out of the antiwar protests of the late '60s.

Authorities released no further information on Gilbert. His name is not listed in the Cambridge telephone directory, nor does it appear in newspaper stories written during the late '60s describing Weatherman actions in Cambridge during the height of its activity here.

Gilbert had been carrying false identification as "James Hackford" of Staten Island, N.Y., leading to initial confusion over his real identity, police said.

The case has received widespread attention because two of those captured, Katherine Boudin and Judith Clark, were well-known Weather Underground members. Boudin had been a fugitive since the 1970 fatal explosion of a Weatherman bomb factory in New York City while Clark served nine months in jail after being convicted in that case.

No official indication was available last night whether Gilbert had also been associated with the Weathermen or other radical groups.

Gilbert's name was not among those of 23 persons arrested in a Cambridge police raid on Weathermen here on Nov. 17, 1969, the largest such action against the group locally.

Two former Weathermen contacted last night did not distinctly recall Gilbert.

Also arrested by police Wednesday in the Rockland County, N.Y., shootings was Samuel Brown, age 41.

Don Holland, a Central Square merchant, said police told him yesterday they were seeking a car related to the case which was seen in the Harvard Square area. Cambridge police said they had not verified Gilbert's Cambridge connections.