Massena gunman found dead

MASSENA — A man who reportedly fired a shotgun in the village Wednesday morning was found dead in what police are calling an apparent suicide.

At 8:13 a.m., village police received a phone call from 556½ S. Main St. that Derek J. Ober, 19, of 7 Amherst Road, had fired a shotgun twice and was threatening to kill himself.

While attempting to locate Mr. Ober, police received two subsequent phone calls that he was spotted crossing the Raquette River in a canoe, was still in possession of a weapon and was walking toward Amherst Road.

Police responded to the vicinity of Mr. Ober’s residence at 7 Amherst Road and spotted him running across the lawn and into the residence’s front door.

Within seconds, a gunshot was heard, according to village police.

Police found Mr. Ober dead in a shed behind the house of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Village Police Chief Timmy J. Currier immediately ordered the scene secured and requested state police to take over and conduct an independent investigation. The state police Bureau of Criminal Investigation was on the scene by late Wednesday morning.

“There were no police weapons discharged,” Mr. Currier said.

“This was an active shooting incident and my staff was responding in a manner with weapons drawn. Because of this, to eliminate any doubt as to the cause of death, it is important that an independent investigation be conducted,” he said. “I know my officers responded properly. However, it is vital that our community hear that from an independent voice.”

Late Wednesday, state police Lt. Scott Heggelke said his agency’s findings were consistent with the village police’s determination of suicide. An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday evening.

West Hatfield Street and Amherst Road were closed for part of Wednesday. Crime tape had surrounded 7 Amherst. Some residents near Nightengale Elementary School had been evacuated.

Massena Central School Superintendent Roger B. Clough II said he was notified at about 9 a.m. that a gunman was in the vicinity of Nightengale Elementary School. Mr. Ober’s residence is only a few blocks from the school.

“I immediately notified administrators at Nightengale, J.W. Leary Junior High and the high school that we would go into a lockout mode — no one can come in and no one can go out,” Mr. Clough said.

The Central Administration Building, which is on the high school and Nightengale Elementary campus, also was put in a lockdown mode, he said.

Mr. Clough said he kept in touch with administrators at the schools, and the district also fielded phone calls from concerned parents.

Mr. Currier notified Mr. Clough at 9:22 a.m. that the “situation was concluded” and the lockdown was lifted at the schools, he said.

The superintendent said lockdowns are part of the emergency plan that is practiced, but which the district hopes never to have to use.

“You think of the safety of all the children in the district and the faculty and make sure everything is locked,” including not just entrance doors but also windows, delivery doors and garage doors, he said. “It’s a very scary situation, especially when you have children in those three buildings.”

Shortly before noon, Pam J. DeLosh drove her sport utility vehicle to the banks of the north side of the Raquette River, behind the Veterans of Foreign Wars post, to recover her canoe used in the incident. Ms. DeLosh’s niece spotted a man in a red-hooded sweatshirt stealing the canoe from the back deck of her Cook Street residence while the family was eating breakfast Wednesday morning. By the time Ms. DeLosh ran outside, the canoe was already on the opposite side of the river.

“I just ran, looked at the deck and told my husband to call the cops,” Ms. DeLosh said. “Why take the canoe across the river? Then we heard what was going on.”

Town Supervisor Joseph D. Gray lives on West Hatfield near where the incident took place.

“Obviously, when you see law enforcement running around with assault weapons, you wonder what’s going on. It was reassuring to see a police presence if there was a potential problem,” he said. “It’s obviously an unfortunate outcome.”

In his final days, Mr. Ober had a series of contacts with law enforcement. He had been charged last week with petit larceny after he allegedly shoplifted three pairs of pants of Walmart with a codefendant. St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s deputies charged him with driving while intoxicated, felony first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and operating without headlights Sunday evening in the village of Canton. While processing Mr. Ober, deputies said, they discovered he also was wanted on a warrant from Stockholm Town Court for failure to pay restitution.

He was arraigned by Stockholm Town Justice Wayne Williams and sent to the St. Lawrence County jail, Canton, for 15 days or until restitution was paid. He paid the remaining restitution and was released from the facility late Monday afternoon.

Several hours before Wednesday’s incident, Mr. Ober had been arrested by village police at 12:19 a.m. for reportedly stealing two bottles of liquor from Romeo’s Liquor Store on South Main Street. Police processed him and released him on an appearance ticket, Mr. Currier said.

Johnson Newspapers writer Bob Beckstead contributed to this report.