A domestic dispute call on Berme Road in Rochester, New York ended with a state trooper opening fire on an armed man who had made suicidal statements and refused to put down his weapon. The man was rushed first to a local hospital and then airlifted to a Westchester Medical Center for further treatment, according to New York State Police.
Troopers from SP Ellenville were dispatched at 4:43 p.m. Sunday to the Berme Road home after a report of a suicidal man involved in a physical domestic dispute, according to WRGB. Dispatch information indicated the man had threatened an individual and children with a gun, and troopers were advised while en route that he was armed.
When troopers arrived at the home, they found the man holding a gun, behaving erratically, and making suicidal statements, the station reports. Troopers said he refused to comply with verbal commands during the encounter that followed. During that standoff, a trooper fired a shot that struck the man.
Deputies and Troopers Respond With Aid
Troopers and Ulster County Sheriff's deputies immediately rendered aid to the man and requested emergency medical services, per the same account. He was taken by ambulance to Ellenville Regional Hospital before being airlifted to Westchester Medical Center for additional care.
New York State Police said the domestic dispute had escalated into a trooper-involved shooting after the armed man made suicidal statements and refused commands. The investigation remains ongoing, and the outlet notes that updates are expected as more information becomes available.
Pattern of Trooper Shootings Across Upstate New York
The Rochester shooting is at least the third trooper-involved shooting reported across New York State Police territory this year. In February, troopers in a separate incident in the town of Rochester shot 33-year-old Benjamin Scism after he displayed what appeared to be a handgun — a weapon investigators later determined was a pellet gun designed to resemble a .357 Magnum, according to WJFF Radio.
In September, a trooper fatally shot 45-year-old Amir Hamza at a Cairo campground in Greene County, a case that the Times Union reported was being investigated jointly by State Police and the state attorney general's office. And in Wayne County, state police said a trooper shot a suspect in the chest near Route 104 in Sodus after the man grabbed a handgun, according to WHEC.
Anyone experiencing a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts can reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
