Details emerge on man killed in officer-involved shooting in Canandaigua

CANANDAGUA, N.Y. – We’re working to learn more about the man shot and killed by Canandaigua police officers and deputies in the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office. One of the mysteries: Why was this person in the finger lakes with a loaded gun? The sheriff says they can’t find any local connection. 

The man’s name was Brandon Zurkan. The Ontario County Sheriff says he lived in Warren, Pennsylvania, which is three hours from here in north west Pennsylvania. Berkeley Brean emailed with some local reporters down there. They found a parking ticket and a speeding ticket. 

Then they found five traffic tickets in Bucks County, the other side of the state, north of Philadelphia. That was on Monday the 27.

The police chief in Warren said he won’t talk until the local investigation is over. 

The Ontario County sheriff says Zurkan lead deputies on a chase, fired his gun while doing it, and then crashed his car near Main Street. The sheriff said deputies and officers tried to talk Zurkan down for eight minutes. 

“The suspect then raise the gun towards the officers,” says Sheriff David Cirencinoe. “At this point, two sheriff’s deputies and two city police officers fired at the suspect, striking him. To this point, we have not identified any links between the suspect and Ontario County.”

Brean did reach out to Zurkan’s employer to see if they wanted to share a statement. They have not done that yet. 

The law in New York says the Attorney General’s Office takes over the investigation if a person is killed by law enforcement.