Adam Theall was scheduled to appear in Rome City Court Wednesday to face charges of assault, menacing, harrassment and child endangerment stemming from an incident last November. Instead, the 21-year-old is recovering from gunshot wounds inflicted by state police in a Tuesday morning domestic dispute that left three-month-old Eithen Theall dead. State police were called to mobile home on...
Adam Theall was scheduled to appear in Rome City Court Wednesday to face charges of assault, menacing, harrassment and child endangerment stemming from an incident last November.
Instead, the 21-year-old is recovering from gunshot wounds inflicted by state police in a Tuesday morning domestic dispute that left three-month-old Eithen Theall dead.
State police were called to mobile home on Pine Road in the town of Vienna around 9 a.m. Tuesday. Upon their arrival, Theall shot and killed his infant son before turning his shotgun on the responding troopers.
Theall was shot 14 to 16 times, troopers said Wednesday, and was transported by helicopter to Upstate University Hospital.
Authorities spent much of Wednesday at the Pine Road home of Theall’s parents, whose lawn was strewn with police tape and evidence markers along with a child-size swimming pool, dirt bikes and toys. State police evidence technicians combed the rural lot with metal detectors and took pictures.
Neighbors said police were often called to the Oneida County home for domestic disturbances and that arguments were commonplace. Theall lived in nearby Pine Haven trailer park, state police said, which was also the site of numerous disputes.
Undersheriff M. Peter Paravati said Theall had been incarcerated at the Oneida County Correctional Facility five times since 2005.
His record includes driving while intoxicated and vehicular assault charges in February 2008, a third-degree assault charge in June 2009, and assault and endangering the welfare of a child charges in November 2009, Paravati said.
Tuesday’s shooting wasn’t the first tragedy for the child’s mother this year. Jamie Baker lost her brother, Jadreck, in a shooting in Rome on May 2, about a month after Eithen’s birth.
The 20-year-old was gunned down in the city’s first homicide in two years. At the time, relatives said Jadreck Baker had trouble with the law as a teenager but had served his time and was trying to get his life in order.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact Alaina Potrikus at apotrikus@syracuse.com or 470-3252.