Man Killed In Confrontation With Deputies | News, Sports, Jobs

Emergency responders are pictured at the scene of an officer-involved shooting Wednesday on French Creek-Mina Road.

MINA – A man has been killed by a Chautauqua County Sheriff’s deputy after an exchange of gunfire after officers responded to a domestic incident on Wednesday on French Creek-Mina Road.

Sheriff Jim Quattrone said during a news conference Wednesday night that the initial call came in at 3:34 p.m. with deputies arriving at the scene at 3:54 p.m. Neither the identities of the shooting victim nor the deputies on the scene were released Wednesday, though Quattrone said the deputies have been with the Sheriff’s Office for a few years and are generally assigned to the area of the county where Wednesday’s incident took place.

“Upon arrival they encountered an armed subject and gunfire was exchanged. Emergency medical services responded to the scene and administered first aid to two subjects – one officer and the subject who was injured. One deputy suffered minor injuries, non life threatening to his hands, the subject later succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene,” Quattrone said.

The investigation into the incident is ongoing. The state Attorney General’s office will be involved in the investigation as is required by state law any time there is an officer-involved shooting. Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt is also part of the investigation along with the county’s Forensic Investigation Team, which includes members from police agencies throughout the county. The deputies were both wearing body cameras, and both body cameras were activated during the shooting.

“It came in as a domestic incident call. The jurisdiction here is rural, so the response time was, for an area this rural, was relatively quick,” Quattrone said. “They responded, arrived on scene, there was an incident and the exchange of gunfire happened shortly after 4 after several attempts at de escalation with the officers on scene and the subject.”

Quattrone said everything happened outside of the house. The man was outside with a shotgun, Quattrone said, that is believed to have been loaded with buckshot.

“He was pointing the weapon at the officers,” Quattrone said. The officer did suffer injuries to both hands. That’s believed it was buckshot that was in the shotgun. It was very close to simultaneous. The response, we’re still investigating that. It takes seconds for the incident to culminate.”

Both deputies fired their weapons, according to Quattrone. The deputy with injuries was taken to an Erie hospital for treatment and is expected to be released. Volunteer firefighters from Clymer, Sherman, Findley Lake as well as Chautauqua County EMS all responded to the scene. The New York State Police also responded.

The focus will now turn to further investigation. The incident involved a long-term Mina resident, Quattrone said, though the sheriff wasn’t sure if law enforcement had responded to the address in the past.

“I think it impacts the whole community,” Quattrone said. “This is a tight-knit community out in this area of the county. Nobody wants to see anybody’s life taken. The emotional effect on everyone involved takes a toll. We are making sure that our officers are cared for, we will be working with the fire service. Generally we will have critical incident debriefing offered to those who responded to the scene. We want to make sure everybody is taken care of. ”