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Steve Borland / Times Herald-Record via AP
Police and medical personnel respond to the scene of the shooting in Middletown, N.Y., on Wednesday.
Authorities say a 43-year-old man has died after being wounded by officers during a gunfight at an upstate New York courthouse on Wednesday. A court officer was wounded.
The gunman was identified as Tim Mulqueen, a former Middletown landlord with a grudge against Middletown Mayor Joe DeStefano, NBCNewYork.com reported.
Court records show Mulqueen had a pending case involving menacing and other charges after an encounter with DeStefano's daughter at the mayor's home last August.
The mayor's office did not immediately comment.
One man told NBCNewYork.com that he was arriving at the courthouse just as the shooting began.
"I hear a 'boom, boom, boom,' and I stopped myself," he said. "I'm thinking 'Wow, what's going on?' I saw a bunch of people tripping over each other to get out."
Another witness said "everybody hit the floor" when the gunfire began.
Middletown police say the gunman went to the vestibule at City Court at about 9 a.m. Wednesday and fired at the security officers. They returned fire, hitting him at least once.
The officer's injuries were not life-threatening, police told NBCNewYork.com.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
Leave a Comment:
Very lucky that with a shot going off in a building like that, no one was seriously hurt or killed.
Thanks to the officers who took care of this guy.
Assisted suicide N.Y. style.
If everyone would have had a gun, there wouldn't have been any violence. Hmm... maybe that's not true. OK, it's the mayors fault. If HE would have had a gun, there wouldn't have been any violence. Yea. That's better.
If the guards hadn't been able to stop him (if he had shot both), then what would have happened? He could have gone on a rampage until police showed up minutes later. In such a situation I would prefer an armed citizen in the vicinity able to stop him from doing further harm.
osuguy..
I'm sure there were other armed people in the building. I'm not positive about ALL jurisdictions, but I believe in most, "Officers of the Court" (lawyers, judges, clerks of the court, etc.) are all permitted to carry concealed firearms. I'm fairly certain that with the first shot fired, many were at the least getting prepared for the potential eventuality of needing to defend others and/or themselves.
Protip: Don't choose an article where death was prevented by a gun to rail against guns.
osuguy: also MOST Courthouses have more than two armed Sheriff Deputies on duty. In fact if this was the County Courthouse, more often than not, the Sheriff's Dept is in the same building or right next door. Let's not ignore the fact that since this was inside a building the probability of more people being injured by 20 'civilians' returning fire at the same time is pretty high.
The *What IF* game can be played all day long and proves nothing one way or the other.
What happened to the Security at the door? In my County Court House you have Security like an Airport. Armed Sheriff,scanner and X-ray machine. Then there is the ARMED Bailiff in each Court Room. Why wasn't he stopped at the door??
Slodon... the way I read the piece, he fired as soon as he entered the building.
Is the security and magnetometers at your courthouse outdoors?
I love the "What If" game!
"What If" worms carried guns?
Birds wouldn't F--- with them!
Actually, if we hadn't won independence from Britain, we'd have the British legal system, and the American courthouse where this occurred wouldn't have been built, thus confounding the shooter when he arrived at the place where the courthouse wasn't. Your theory pishaw, is easier to understand though.
My best wishes to the officer wounded. I hope for a speedy recovery.
My CONGRATULATIONS to the officer that brought the perpetrator down. Thank you for your efforts and for saving the taxpayers the expense of a trial and later incarceration. I wish these types of incidents all had the same good results (of course with the exception being the one wounded officer.).
obviously you have never had to kill someone its not congrats he wants but condolences for being in a place where it was his job and he needed to take the life of another man. however justified this was he will live with this the rest of his life. this guy was committing suicide and didn't have the b@lls to do it himself so he found an officer to do it for him. killing someone is never a good result, sometimes necessary but never good. My sincerest condolences to the officer and wishes for his speedy recovery
Richard-1360372..
The very short response to your hypothesis is as follows:
I have personal first hand knowledge of the reality of killing another. No it is NOT a pleasant experience. However, I believe congratulations ARE in order. It is so much better than hearing the hyperbole of uninformed people bemoaning the fact that he "didn't fire a warning shot or a disabling shot".
When you know what you speak of, say something. When you're making "ASSUMPTIONS".. well you know what that means.
Note to Steve Borland of the Times Herald-Record: We are New YORK STATE COURT OFFICERS not "Guards"or "Security Officers".
CONGRATULATIONS to the Court Officers on a job well done. We here at Brooklyn Supreme are Proud of you guys
gunz am great I tells ya. sez so 2nd mendment. no need to evolve
yeehaw
as alway duh nre
Problem solved
Nice shot, security guy. You probably saved numerous lives. Hope he or she doesn't feel too sick about it.
Humm.... What drove this man to attempt killing the mayor? Long standing dispute with the mayor and legal problems doesn't explain the actions taken....
Neither does this, but it still happened:
Bassai: thanks for the snippet of information not pertaining to this incident... My thoughts are sometimes in life the little guy doesn't have a chance when it comes to fighting city hall or the cancerous government called the Three Branches of Oligarchy.
And prayers for the family of the dead man.
There is a large black market of foreign guns in the U.S. Any criminal who wants a gun can get a gun, including automatic weapons. When the USA decends to bankruptcy with resultant social anarchy, govt will not be able to protect you from criminal violence even if martial law is declared. The legal system favors the criminal.Do what you have to do to defend yourselves. Citizens you will be on your own. Look at our history. Most surburban communities are the result of govt refusal to protect citizens during the 1960's, 70's, and 80's in our major cities.
mikeyknows...???????????
You're claiming urban sprawl was the result of what? Have you ever considered the idea that people might not have wanted to live in apartment buildings or in a house that was within arms reach of the house next door?
In the 70's, I moved out of NYC (Queens) to Suffolk county because I couldn't afford the prices in the city, and I wanted more space than afforded me in Queens. I wanted the 1/4 acre lot with a small house on it rather than the 50x100 lot with a smaller house in Queens.
It had nothing to do with the "governments refusal" to protect me.
I don't know where you came up with that theory, but there's no support for it that I know of. Although I will admit that in CERTAIN geographic areas, people moved for safety as crime was bad, that can't be construed as a general statement.
Well, his legal troubles are over now...
Darn, too bad the media can't sensationalize this story, since the perp used a shotgun, and not an "automatic assault scary glock rifle gun."
If you are as idiotic as your comment, I pity the people around you.
I use a shiny dessert coffee sugar tea tablespoon to eat my cearel!
A slug is worse than a 55 grain bullet.
You think it's bad here, look at what's happening in Greece. If we Americans don't watch our "P's" and "Q's", we could get there pretty fast too. (ex) the crime rate, gas prices, suicides, food shortages, on and on and on....... Folks, the world is not getting any better. Consider these, "The Good'ole Days". Don't bring babies into this world because they will suffer not you, you will be long gone. Think about it people, use a little foresight.
Just another chapter in the favorite American sport: Got a problem? Get your gun and kill somebody!
The gunman reportedly had legal troubles and is believed to have had a longstanding dispute with the city mayor, a source told NBCNewYork.com. He allegedly went to the city center to confront the mayor...
Thats it?? I want to know the REAL story
Well that solved his problem, but there is always another little person that feels wronged in some way. Eyes , and ears alert at all times, welcome to the new world order.
Did he commit suicide?
Try reading the entire article. The answer you seek is revealed within!
Thanks... ;) I was being a smart ass, because the grammar generally used in these MSNBC articles is generally so atrocious, it requires you have to read the entire article, just to get clarity on the first point!
Ooop's... my bad. Sorry.
I'm so used to people responding to basically the "headline" I almost automatically assume that's the norm!!
And I agree that MSNBC does have some serious issues with assembling a story coherently!!
How can this guy have a problem directly with the Mayor?...seems wierd.
Have you considered they might be neighbors? Or he's had other interactions with the mayor?
Updated:
people often blame anyone with authority when outcomes don't go their way ( Kinda like saying President Obama isn't an american).
Death is never a good thing but I'm glad the only person killed was the person who wanted to be. I do however wish people would stop using guns for dumb ass @!$%# that give the gun grabbing libs "ammo" against us sane gun owners.
When seconds count, help is only minutes away
I was going to complain about a parking ticket I got in that town.............I think I will just mail in the fine as they don't take kindly to complainers.
I love it when justice is as cheap as a bullet.
Maybe, as long as you don't have to be the one firing the bullet. If you were, you'd feel differently. Prayers for all involved.
Sorry dude. I would be the first to take this chump out if I was given the chance. I've seen enough injustice and certainly wouldn't stand idly by while this occurred. Where's my bullet?
I was obviously born way after the time I should have been.
I would have loved to live back in the 1800's in the old west where a citizen with a gun saved others from a crazy man and the town was only GRATEFUL for his heroic act; not complaining about guns causing people to die, therefore guns should be outlawed. Geez!
All you gun-fearing-folks are welcome to get on the first thing smoking and leave this gun-toting-country anytime you like. I'll feel safer when your gone.
i remember when my grandpa would pull up to local Wal-mart with 2 guns in the back window of his truck. get out and go get his grocery's and do his shopping. the doors were unlocked and the keys were in the ignition. everybody i knew had a gun. people looked out for each other and thieves were put on very short notice that their behavior was not gonna happen. and if you had a problem with someone you duked it out. if you couldn't put up you shut up real quick or ate through a straw. nowadays people want to get a gun and shoot someone, or they want to run their mouths off, and sue people for shutting their mouths for them. i liked it in the old days. people were allot more respectful and more conscience of other feelings.
Long before 'fire ARMS's it was clubs, wielded by strong 'Arms'. Those with the strongest, or most available 'Arms', won. End of disagreement. The one common denominator is as always, 'People'. More often than not, in today's USA, there are endless examples that are Not tuned in to society's organizational plans. The US legal system with over 70 percent of the world's attorneys, is perpetually in gridlock with profit minded attorneys involved, dragging out any grievance until all patience is exhausted, as exhibited in this article.
The US also is home to a rare world phenomenon. The 'Career Repeat Offender', as a result of this endless legal gridlock. Be on your guard and prepared, don't ever cross paths with one of these dysfunctional individuals. As is mentioned often, "When seconds Count, the Police are only minutes away". In this instance, with the guard being armed, at least the odds were favorable.
........and they pried the gun from his cold dead fingers.........(oh well, one less legal gun owner........)