State Police to talk Tuesday about deadly shooting of a driver in Gates Sunday night

GATES, N.Y. – Tuesday morning, New York State Police will talk about the situation from Sunday night where a state trooper shot and killed a driver he was chasing in Gates. Monday, state police say the driver fired his gun at the trooper first.

Monday, News10NBC tracked what happened with the help of the trooper’s own radio calls.

“I have a car taking off on me westbound 490,” the state trooper radioed calmly after the 1995 Cadillac he tried to pull over sped away.

The chase started on 490 near the baseball stadium.

“490 westbound coming up to Mt. Read. Speeds are 80 mph,” the trooper said.

The chase continued west and only got faster.

“We’re still 490 westbound coming up to the 531 split,” he said. “Traffic medium. Speeds up to 95.”

The trooper followed the car onto 531 and radioed that the driver took the exit to the Rochester Tech Park in Gates.

In a statement, state police say the driver crashed into the guide rail and went into a field. State police say when the trooper tried to arrest the driver, the driver shot his gun.

Then the trooper radioed with urgency.

“Shots fired! (inaudible) Shots fired! Get on the (inaudible)!” he yelled into his radio. “I’m backing up to cover.”
 
After three minutes of silence on the radio, a dispatcher radioed to see if the trooper was okay.

“SP, your status?” he asked.
  
“SP. 10-4, I”m good,” the trooper radioed. “Suspect is down. (inaudible) the sheriff’s office… (inaudible) notify supervisor. Start an AMR.”

The driver died at the scene.

NYSP scheduled a news conference at its headquarters Tuesday morning.

Here is the statement from the New York State Attorney General’s office:

The New York Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation (OSI) has opened an investigation into the death of a civilian who died on August 6, 2023 following an encounter with a member of the New York State Police (NYSP) in Monroe County.

On the evening of August 6, an NYSP trooper attempted to initiate a traffic stop on I-490 in Rochester. The driver of the vehicle did not comply and instead drove away from the scene, prompting the trooper to follow. The pursuit continued until the driver jumped a curb and got out of his vehicle in the town of Gates, at which point the trooper attempted to arrest him. During the encounter, the individual allegedly fired a gun at the trooper and the trooper returned fire. The individual was pronounced dead at the scene. Officials recovered a gun at the scene.

Pursuant to New York State Executive Law Section 70-b, OSI assesses every incident reported to it where a police officer or a peace officer, including a corrections officer, may have caused the death of a person by an act or omission. Under the law, the officer may be on-duty or off-duty, and the decedent may be armed or unarmed. Also, the decedent may or may not be in custody or incarcerated. If OSI’s assessment indicates an officer may have caused the death, OSI proceeds to conduct a full investigation of the incident.