Pulaski, NY -- A standoff with police in this Oswego County village ended in tragedy this evening with the discovery that the two people taken hostage by a third man were dead, officials said. The suspect surrendered shortly before 7:15 p.m., about seven hours after Pulaski police received a call about shots fired at the Village Apartments on Lewis Street....
Pulaski, NY -- A standoff with police in this Oswego County village ended in tragedy this evening with the discovery that the two people taken hostage by a third man were dead, officials said.
The suspect surrendered shortly before 7:15 p.m., about seven hours after Pulaski police received a call about shots fired at the Village Apartments on Lewis Street.
said Sheriff Reuel Todd and Pulaski Police Chief Ellery Terpening.
"At this point in time we're looking at a double homicide," Todd said.
He declined to identify the suspect or the victims, pending notification of relatives.
However, about two dozen friends and relatives of the hostages who had gathered near a ballfield behind the apartment building already had received the news from Todd. They erupted in sobs and cries of grief as Todd spoke to them, moments before he addressed the media.
One of those relatives, Charles Carr Sr., of Colosse, earlier had identified the hostages as his son, Charles Carr Jr. and his son's girlfiend, Victoria Steen.
Pulaski police originally received a call about a domestic disturbance at the apartment shortly after noon, Todd said. As a village officer responded a second call came, this time saying shots had been fired, he said.
Officers could not enter because the suspect had barricaded himself inside one of the the building's seven apartments, Todd said
Sheriff's officers, state police, Environmental Conservation Police and border patrol officers joined Pulaski police at the scene, Terpening said, Residents were evacuated immediately from the other apartments, he said.
"We negotiated all afternoon with the subject" using cell phones, Todd said. "With the help of Pulaski PD, our negotiators, the subject's attorney and relatives we were able to get the subject out of the house."
Todd put the time at 6:30 p.m., but also said the suspect gave up shortly before National Grid restored power to the apartment building; that took place about 7:15 p.m.
The victims were found dead after the suspect surrendered, Todd said.
Todd and Terpening declined to elaborate further, saying the incident remained under investigation. Among the details that remain undisclosed were how the victims were killed. The suspect was unarmed when he gave himself up, but Todd would not say whether investigators found a weapon inside the apartment.
Todd said he expected the suspect would be arraigned tonight. He did not know which court.