A standoff that went on all night in Herkimer, New York between police and shooting suspect Kurt Myers  has ended in a shootout.

A military-style vehicle sits on West Main Street in Herkimer, NY
A military-style vehicle sits on West Main Street in Herkimer, NY (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
loading...

The 64-year-old Myers was killed Thursday by police who had surrounded a block of small businesses in the village of Herkimer since Wednesday afternoon. They had not had any communication with Myers in 15 hours.

Trooper Jack Keller says police went into the building around 8 a.m. He says the shootout occurred in the basement, where Myers shot a police dog. Keller says police returned fire, killing him.

In a statement, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) said, "We commend the courage and extraordinary efforts of the state police, the FBI, and local law enforcement officials in finding the suspect and ending this horrific spree of violence and bloodshed. .It is now time for mourning those who we lost in this senseless act of violence."

Cuomo says there were no injuries to law enforcement officials.

State Police will hold a press conference at 10 a.m. about the shooting.

New York state police had vowed to wait out Kurt Myers as he remained  holed up in an abandoned building all night.

Police kept vigilant watch there into Thursday morning, periodically blaring sirens in an apparent attempt to encourage Myers to surrender, if alive. Booms also were heard.

Keller told Townsquare Media's WIBX on Wednesdasy that State Police believe Myers is still inside. They do not know where in the extremely large building he is, but they are confident that he is alone and is considered armed and dangerous.

A robot was sent into the building, but Keller would not get into any detail about what was seen, found or anything about the robot being in the building.

 

Rampage Started With A Fire

Shooting suspect Kurt Meyers (New York State Police)
Shooting suspect Kurt Meyers (New York State Police)
loading...

Police said Myers' rampage started with a fire in his apartment in the nearby village of Mohawk at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. He then drove to John's Barber Shop around the corner and used a shotgun to kill two customers, D'Amico said, identifying them as Harry Montgomery, 68, and Michael Ransear, 57, a retired corrections officer. In addition to Seymour, the shop's owner, another customer, Dan Haslauer, also was listed in critical condition at a Utica hospital.

The gunman then drove to Gaffy's Fast Lube in nearby Herkimer and used the shotgun to kill Thomas Stefka, an employee, and Michael Renshaw, a customer who was a 23-year veteran of the state Department of Corrections, D'Amico said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a press conference in Herkimer, called it "truly an inexplicable situation."

"There's no apparent motive to the best of our knowledge at this time to provoke these attacks," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

More From 92.7 WOBM