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Old Forge, N.Y. —
It was early Saturday morning when Old Forge Ambulance paramedic Dan Rivet, Jr. received an EMS call he thought he’d never get.
Not only was there a reported shooting in the popular State Route 28 tourism business district, it was at his business.
“I thought, ‘Oh boy, what could this be?’” said Rivet, owner of Clarks Beach Motel. “We have very little violence in Old Forge.”
State police would later say Michael Leach, 59, of Rochester, who is a police officer in the village of Perry in Wyoming County, was the shooter.
He thought his son Matthew S. Leach, 37, also of Rochester, was an intruder when he shot him around12:50 a.m. inside the motel room, police said.
The shooting took place in Room 6, Rivet said, which is on the waterfront of the motel. The weapon used was the officer’s department-issued .45-caliber Glock handgun, police said.
Michael Leach then called 911, stating he believed he shot an intruder, police said.
Webb police and state police then responded as well as Old Forge medical personnel.
Details about exactly how the shooting unfolded and how many times the victim was shot were not available Saturday.
“That’s still yet to be determined,” police Capt. Francis Coots of Troop D said.
An autopsy is expected to be performed Sunday, and state police still were investigating the circumstances of the case with Herkimer County Acting District Attorney Jeff Carpenter, Coots said.
More details involving the investigation should be available by Monday, he said.
Rivet said when he arrived on the scene, the father was “very distraught.”
At first, paramedics could not find an entry wound to the victim, but it then was located in the right back area, Rivet said.
The father was taken by ambulance to Faxton St Luke’s Healthcare, St. Luke’s campus, where he remained Saturday for a medical issue, police said.
His son was taken to St. Elizabeth Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Rivet said the father and son were part of a group of police officers who drive to the area on motorcycles for a long-weekend getaway. They have been there in the past.
“It was just a group of guys coming to have a good time,” he said.
Oswego resident Robert Hilton said he didn’t hear anything from his Clarks Beach Motel room, located toward the back of the property. Upon learning of the news, he was shocked.
“It’s unexplainable, it’s tragic,” he said. “It sounds surreal to me that something like that could happen in Old Forge.”
Hilton said he comes up with family at least once a year to the area to take long weekends. The area is popular for camping, boating and the water rides at the nearby Enchanted Forest Water Safari.
“It’s beautiful up here,” he said, adding it’s the first time he’s stayed at the motel.
It is Herkimer County’s first homicide of the year.
The police department Michael Leach is employed by in the village of Perry consists of five full time officers, nine part-time officers, a civilian secretary and a chief, according to the department’s website.
It was early Saturday morning when Old Forge Ambulance paramedic Dan Rivet, Jr. received an EMS call he thought he’d never get.
Not only was there a reported shooting in the popular State Route 28 tourism business district, it was at his business.
“I thought, ‘Oh boy, what could this be?’” said Rivet, owner of Clarks Beach Motel. “We have very little violence in Old Forge.”
State police would later say Michael Leach, 59, of Rochester, who is a police officer in the village of Perry in Wyoming County, was the shooter.
He thought his son Matthew S. Leach, 37, also of Rochester, was an intruder when he shot him around12:50 a.m. inside the motel room, police said.
The shooting took place in Room 6, Rivet said, which is on the waterfront of the motel. The weapon used was the officer’s department-issued .45-caliber Glock handgun, police said.
Michael Leach then called 911, stating he believed he shot an intruder, police said.
Webb police and state police then responded as well as Old Forge medical personnel.
Details about exactly how the shooting unfolded and how many times the victim was shot were not available Saturday.
“That’s still yet to be determined,” police Capt. Francis Coots of Troop D said.
An autopsy is expected to be performed Sunday, and state police still were investigating the circumstances of the case with Herkimer County Acting District Attorney Jeff Carpenter, Coots said.
More details involving the investigation should be available by Monday, he said.
Rivet said when he arrived on the scene, the father was “very distraught.”
At first, paramedics could not find an entry wound to the victim, but it then was located in the right back area, Rivet said.
The father was taken by ambulance to Faxton St Luke’s Healthcare, St. Luke’s campus, where he remained Saturday for a medical issue, police said.
His son was taken to St. Elizabeth Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Rivet said the father and son were part of a group of police officers who drive to the area on motorcycles for a long-weekend getaway. They have been there in the past.
“It was just a group of guys coming to have a good time,” he said.
Oswego resident Robert Hilton said he didn’t hear anything from his Clarks Beach Motel room, located toward the back of the property. Upon learning of the news, he was shocked.
“It’s unexplainable, it’s tragic,” he said. “It sounds surreal to me that something like that could happen in Old Forge.”
Hilton said he comes up with family at least once a year to the area to take long weekends. The area is popular for camping, boating and the water rides at the nearby Enchanted Forest Water Safari.
“It’s beautiful up here,” he said, adding it’s the first time he’s stayed at the motel.
It is Herkimer County’s first homicide of the year.
The police department Michael Leach is employed by in the village of Perry consists of five full time officers, nine part-time officers, a civilian secretary and a chief, according to the department’s website.
