Rape suspect dies after being shot by state police in Carthage
The man, who was wanted on a first-degree rape charge, was struck by a trooper after pointing a handgun at an investigator during a traffic stop.
By Abigail Brooks ·
One person is dead following a shooting by New York State Police in Carthage on Wednesday. The victim was a man wanted on a bench warrant for first-degree rape.
State troopers initiated the encounter by pulling the suspect’s vehicle over. During the stop, the man pointed a handgun directly at a state police investigator. Troopers said he did not comply with verbal commands to disarm his weapon before a member of the police force opened fire.
The suspect sustained a gunshot wound and was conscious and able to speak at the time of the initial dispatch. Jefferson County dispatchers received the report of the injury in the vicinity of West Street and South Washington Street. Multiple police agencies responded to the scene. Medical personnel provided aid on the street before transporting the man to Carthage Area Hospital in critical condition. He later died at the hospital.
Yellow police tape cordoned off West Street between South Washington Street and Thorpe Street. Samantha Ortiz, a nearby resident who has lived in the area for one and a half years, described the neighborhood as usually safe. "To see this in my front yard is kind of nerve-racking because I’ve lived here for about a year and a half and it’s been a really safe neighborhood," Ortiz said.
The state Attorney General’s Office is currently investigating the incident, a standard procedure for any officer-involved shooting. Neither the suspect nor the law enforcement officer who fired the shot has been named by authorities.
