Police seek shooter's motive

CAPE VINCENT — Investigators are still trying to determine why a self-employed fisherman they say was being treated for an anxiety attack suddenly decided to shoot and kill the man attempting to help him.

When Mark B. Davis and other emergency medical responders arrived late Friday for a 911 call at 114 S. Esseltyne St., they found Christopher George Burke standing in his bathroom, apparently suffering from shortness of breath, according to state police.

The three responders in the house got Burke to sit down on a sofa, where they began their routine examination for his vital readings, Senior Investigator Colleen M. O'Neill said Tuesday.

"He was conscious and alert," she said.

And then the patient turned attacker, bolting from the sofa, going for his rifle and firing two shots, police allege.

After fatally wounding Mr. Davis, the shooter ran from the apartment, and was tackled by a fourth member of the Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Service, identified by a source as Douglas J. Putnam. Mr. Putnam, a village trustee, held Burke on the ground until a Clayton police patrol arrived.

Cape Vincent police were not on duty at the time.

Burke's shortness of breath prior to the shooting was believed caused by anxiety, Ms. O'Neill said. Police are awaiting the outcome of various tests for a better determination.

The 911 call that brought Mr. Davis to his tragic fate was made by Burke's live-in girlfriend, Trisha M. Crosbie, 23, according to the investigator. There was no indication of a domestic fight.

Burke, 25, was under police guard Tuesday at Samaritan Medical Center, Watertown, where he is undergoing mental evaluation, according to an officer at the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building. Charged with second-degree murder and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, he is being held without bail.

District Attorney Cindy F. Intschert said no date has been set for a preliminary hearing. Burke is currently represented by the county public defender's office, Mrs. Intschert said, but he is expected to have private counsel soon.

Documents released Tuesday by Mrs. Intschert to the Times indicate that Burke has made admissions about the 11:58 p.m. shooting.

Police have not disclosed where Mr. Davis was wounded, but radio transmissions that were heard early Saturday morning indicated the victim had an abdominal wound.

Until Friday night, Burke was an unknown to local police agencies. Investigator O'Neill said Burke lived with his parents in Sherrill until March, when he moved to Chaumont. He lived there with Ms. Crosbie until November, when the couple moved here, she said.

The police chiefs of Chaumont, Cape Vincent, Clayton and Alexandria Bay, as well as Jefferson County Sheriff John P. Burns and Investigator O'Neill all said their agencies had not handled any complaints filed either by or against Burke.

"There is no reason to believe he has a criminal record," Ms. O'Neill said.

Jail records list him as a native of Liverpool, born July 7, 1983, and as a high school graduate who is an unemployed laborer. Ms. O'Neill said he is a self-employed fisherman.

Respecting the wishes of the county office of fire and emergency management, Ms. O'Neill said the names of the other emergency responders, both men, who were in the house at the time of the shooting will not be disclosed until after Mr. Davis's funeral.