Crime

Can You Guess What Type of Gun the Man Who Opened Fire at a Car Wash & Barber Shop in NY Used?

The following is the Associated Press report on the standoff between police and the man who they say opened fire at a barber shop and a car wash on Wednesday in upstate New York, killing four. But as the gun debate rages, it’s interesting to note that the gun used by the killer was not an automatic weapon, a so-called “assault weapon,” or even a handgun. Instead, it was a shotgun — the type of gun Vice President has been touting as a better protection option (although it’s unclear what exact shotgun was used).

Police Shoot Man Accused of Killing 4 at New York Car Wash and Barber Shop

This February 4, 2013 photo illustration in Manassas, Virginia, shows a Remington 20-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a Colt .45 semi-auto handgun, a Walther PK380 semi-auto handgun and various ammunition clips with a copy of the US Constitution on top of the American flag. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

That begs the question: Will this instance be used by pro-gun people to show that banning semi-automatic rifles and large magazines is pointless, or will the anti-gun crowd use it to say that even banning “assault” weapons doesn’t go far enough.

Read below and let us know what you think.

–

HERKIMER, N.Y. (AP) — Police in upstate New York stormed an abandoned building Thursday morning where a man suspected of a deadly shooting rampage at a car wash and barbershop had been holed up, killing him after he fired on an FBI dog.

SWAT teams entered the building around 8 a.m., and sent the dog in first, Trooper Jack Keller said. The 64-year-old suspect, Kurt Myers, had been inside since Wednesday afternoon.

“He was waiting for us,” Keller said. “He kills the dog. They hear shots fired. Our teams returned fire and the suspect gets shot.”

No officers were injured in the basement shootout, he said.

Police say Myers sauntered into a barbershop Wednesday, coolly asked if the man cutting hair remembered him and then opened fire with a shotgun, the first shots in a burst of violence that would leave four dead, two critically wounded and people in this small village aching to find out what set the gunman off.

We commend the courage and extraordinary efforts of the state police, the FBI and local law enforcement officials in finding the suspect and ending this horrific spree of violence and bloodshed,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Thursday morning. “It’s now time for mourning those who we lost in this senseless act of violence.”

John Seymour, one of the men wounded in the attacks told his sister, Mary Hornett, the barbershop attack came out of nowhere.

“He just said that the guys were in the barbershop and this guy comes in and he says, `Hi John, do you remember me?’ and my brother said, `Yes, Kurt, how are you?’ and then he just started shooting,” Hornett said.

Hornett said her brother, who was hospitalized in critical condition, was doing well after being shot in the left hand and right hip.

“My brother couldn’t think of any reason why he would do such a thing,” she said of Myers, a former customer who hadn’t been in the shop for a couple of years.

The shootings shattered the peace and rattled the nerves of Mohawk and Herkimer, two small villages about 170 miles northwest of New York City, separated from each other by the Mohawk River and the New York State Thruway.

Police said Myers’ rampage started with a fire in his apartment in the nearby village of Mohawk at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. He then drove to John’s Barber Shop around the corner and used a shotgun to kill two customers, D’Amico said, identifying them as Harry Montgomery, 68, and Michael Ransear, 57, a retired corrections officer. In addition to Seymour, the shop’s owner, another customer, Dan Haslauer, also was listed in critical condition at a Utica hospital.

The gunman then drove to Gaffy’s Fast Lube in nearby Herkimer and used the shotgun to kill Michael Renshaw and Thomas Stefka. Renshaw was a 23-year employee of the state corrections department who worked at Mid-State Correctional Facility near Utica. Stefka worked at Gaffey’s and attended Mohawk Reform Church, where he played guitar during services.

Neighbors said they barely knew Myers, who rarely spoke, left every morning in his red Jeep and came back.

Traci Randall said the only time she remembers speaking to her next-door neighbor was when he yelled at her son because he thought he had shot an air pellet at his Jeep.

“He would walk by himself. He was kind of a loner. No wife,” she said.

Neighbors said he never had visitors or friends. Gary Urich said Myers wouldn’t even say much as `Hi’ to him when walking by his porch.

“I said, `How are you doing?’ No response. He just walked by,” he said.

Michele Mlinar, a bartender at Cangee’s Bar and Grille in Herkimer, said Myers frequently went in and had a bottle or two of Coors Light and left without speaking to anyone. She said he was always alone and she didn’t even know his name until police released his mug shot on Wednesday.

Cangee’s owner Candy Rellin called Myers “just an odd little man.”

The two villages are about 65 miles east of Syracuse on opposite sides of the Mohawk River – which connects the Erie Canal to the Hudson River and from there, the sea – in a region known as the Mohawk Valley.

Elizabeth Cirelli was shocked by Stefka’s slaying. He was a neighbor in Herkimer.

“He was a great guy, a really nice person. This is horrific. We really couldn’t believe it,” she said.

Herkimer County Community College lifted a lockdown during the afternoon, and schools near the scene released students. D’Amico said most of the three-block neighborhood around the search scene was evacuated.

Herkimer is a village of 7,700 named for the German immigrant family that settled in the western Mohawk Valley in the 1720s. The economically distressed villages are 2 miles away from Ilion, where a 2-century-old Remington Arms gun plant is a major employer.

—

Associated Press writers Chris Carola and Mary Esch in Albany and Tom McElroy in New York contributed to this report.

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Comments (70)

  • NewCreationDave
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 6:56pm

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/7950634/It%27s%20a%20free%20country.pdf

    Report this comment

    NewCreationDave  
  • GuruMeditation
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 5:32pm

    Enjoy this:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jafkVM-jnbE (the good stuff starts at 0:32)

    It seems the AR is much easier for them to aim and use and I bet they would still need 30 rounds… hahaha.

    Report this comment

    GuruMeditation  
  • GuruMeditation
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 5:29pm

    I bought a shotgun! I bought a shotgun.

    Report this comment

    GuruMeditation  
  • RemoteCoderz
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 4:31pm

    “No officers were injured in the basement shootout, he said.”

    I thought they sent in the police canine, and the guy shot it dead.

    Aren’t Police Canine’s considered officers of the law, and therefore crimes against the animals are crimes against law enforcement?

    This is why law enforcement need dogs. They figure if they can send them in first, they save human lives, but also if aggression is witnessed against the dogs, loosens the confines of lethal force enabling officers to then “spray and pray”.

    Report this comment

    RemoteCoderz  
    • The_Cabrito_Goat
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 5:00pm

      You know, I’ve been saying this for a long time, too. Though a bit off topic, war dogs ought to be brought back into the military’s arsenal of potential weapons. I think a pack of 8 german shepherds would make any combatant soil his self.

      Report this comment

      The_Cabrito_Goat  
    • G-WHIZ
      Posted on March 15, 2013 at 10:25am

      I say….use attack-HOGS !! The ******* would pants-pee and flee!! :-)

      Report this comment

      G-WHIZ  
    • micko77
      Posted on March 15, 2013 at 5:09pm

      In Illinois, the paradise of freedom (sarcasm filter is broke; sorry), a police dog’s life is considered the same as a police officer’s– anthropomorphism gone wild. Sorry, pun filter shorts; has its ups and downs. Canines have badge numbers assigned, usually live in the home of the officer (the human one) which if one follows the logic (!) is fraternizing while off-duty. Don’t misunderstand me; I like dogs, I generally like police officers, and canines do wonderful work that humas can’t do…. but they are not humans. Meanwhile, my thoughts and prayers are reserved for the dead, injured, and the families of all. And Joe Biden recommends committing felonies. This from our V.P. I wonder if one could use his advice as a court defense? “Your Honor, I just did what the Vice President said!”

      Report this comment

      micko77  
  • B-Neil
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 3:25pm

    Why did the police do this to the old man?? He followed Vice President Bidons instructions of pointing the shotgun outside and fire a couple of shots. Why didn’t the police run away?? It just baffles the mind.

    Report this comment

    B-Neil  
    • Newtowns-Third-Law
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 3:59pm

      This February 4, 2013 photo illustration in Manassas, Virginia, shows a Remington 20-gauge semi-automatic shotgun, a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a Colt .45 semi-auto handgun, a Walther PK380 semi-auto handgun and various ammunition clips with a copy of the US Constitution on top of the American flag. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

      Hey, Blaze Writer/Editor, you made a couple of ERRORS in your Photo Caption
      …TWELVE gauge…
      …TWO Colt .45 ACP 1911 semi-automatic PISTOLS…
      …PK380 .38 ACP semi-automatic PISTOL…
      …various MAGAZINES…
      …ALL DESECRATING THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

      ((So, are you playing us by pretending to be knowledgeable about Guns and Patriotism?))

      Report this comment

      Newtowns-Third-Law  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 4:59pm

      NEWTOWN? You’re a crushing bore and so is your pious blather.
      Oh and again…try “NEWTON” you cretin.

      Report this comment

      AvengerK  
    • Newtowns-Third-Law
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 5:14pm

      OK punK, make my day. Wanna plug me fulla hot lead?

      An besides, I never been to Crete or even Grease. I am 100 percent USA, pal. Natural Born.

      Report this comment

      Newtowns-Third-Law  
    • GuruMeditation
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 5:27pm

      @Newtowns-Third-Law: Grease? Really?

      Report this comment

      GuruMeditation  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 5:37pm

      You’ve never been to “Grease” NEWTOWN (sic)? Who are you kidding little troll? You’ve got “I LOVE BROADWAY” written all over you champ.

      Report this comment

      AvengerK  
    • GuruMeditation
      Posted on March 15, 2013 at 8:29am

      I wouldn’t venture to any of them even if I was being paid. Especially Broadway!

      Report this comment

      GuruMeditation  
  • RoDogg
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 2:04pm

    Its funny how any gun article is a guarantee that sendthebs will comment. It seems the paid trolls have specific targets. Mainly guns, religion, and sexuality but you’re guaranteed to see the same one over and over again on a specific topic. Blatant paid useful idiot trolls.

    This group of idiots will really feel displaced when SHTF and the reality of the extent they’ve been mislead kicks in. Poor soles.

    Report this comment

    RoDogg  
    • Chrisrob63
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 2:25pm

      Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. CaseOfAsteriods just popped in.
      :)

      Report this comment

      Chrisrob63  
    • vaman
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 3:08pm

      Guns, religion and sexuality are, in majority, the only topics the blaze concerns itself with. The blaze reader apparently also believes these are the only topics of discussion, so the blaze panders to that crowd. The blaze could never post a story outside of a 6th graders comprehension level. Could you imagine the responses to an article not concerning guns, christians, muslims, the new black panther party, the nation of islam, gays, or something else meant to scare the stupid? Any article from the Wall Street Journal would cause blaze readers to drool, shrug their shoulders and pray to jesus because the big words scare them. So, there are only a few ways to adequately respond to the blaze and the irrelevant, fear mongering paranoia addicted stories it posts. BTW, have you picked up your 20 years’ worth of food, gold at any price, new safe and Agenda 21?

      Report this comment

      vaman  
    • Dark_Night
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 3:52pm

      VAMAN, do you have a point? I take it the point you attempted to make is that you have an “education” and learned some big words so you could read the Wall Street Journal. Good for you, too bad I am out of gold stars to give you. Media that is focused on certain topics is nothing new, although you exaggerate.

      Report this comment

      Dark_Night  
    • cemerius
      Posted on March 15, 2013 at 8:02am

      @RodDOgg

      The scariest part of your comment if I may eloborate is….the Trolls aren’t paid they actually believe what their party tells them and just like good little useful idiots they spew whatever they are told for free!! Yes, there are very stupid people in this world and when you only have to remember “guns bad” they can keep their attention focussed on that and eat their mac and cheese at the same time…..

      Report this comment

      cemerius  
  • dont_drive_slow_in_the_left_lane_obliviot
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 1:57pm

    sure glad the citizens cannot carry a handgun, the criminal might have gotten hurt but citizens. only police are allowed to shoot unarmed citizens.

    Report this comment

    dont_drive_slow_in_the_left_lane_obliviot  
  • watashbuddyfriend
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 1:51pm

    Damn shame the dog was killed!

    Report this comment

    watashbuddyfriend  
  • yoshik
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 1:38pm

    The goal: Disarm America.
    The inspiration: Bolsheviks
    The chances of it actually happening: 85%
    How to avoid it?: Defend your rights by any means necessary. Forget voting. The republicans are as bad as the Dems. They are worse; they are cowards. Resist.

    Report this comment

    yoshik  
  • randy1bella2
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 1:37pm

    Sendthemet (though it seems the meteors have been falling on you already),

    Just imagine, imagine, imagine…no need to escape from reality in order to pretend reason where there is none. What about living in the real world virtually all fire-arms crimes are committed with handguns.
    That is the issue here ladies and gentleman, we are dealing with dreamers, and since one cannot limit their dreams, these libs will continue to ram legislation at all of us, whatever they can dream about (if we ultimately let them: IF)

    Report this comment

    randy1bella2  
  • SUNTZU
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 12:29pm

    I guess the VP does have some
    influence after all.
    It will be fun to see with the Pope.

    Report this comment

    SUNTZU  
    • Harley2002
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 1:11pm

      Send

      Just think what he could have done with a Hummer at a bus stop. Probably kill more then 4 by just running over people. Your post is just stupid.

      Report this comment

      Harley2002  
    • mikem1969
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 1:19pm

      He was just hunting people after Frankenstein said it was legal to hunt people. More people are killed each year by drunk drivers, so should we ban cars? meaty needs to stfu with the liberal progressive talking points. CRIMINALS WILL ALWAYS FIND A WAY NO MATTER WHAT.

      Report this comment

      mikem1969  
    • Strider26
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 1:24pm

      @sendthestatist.

      Or what he could have done with a B-52 and a couple of atomic bombs. Or an errant meteor and an attractor beam. Or with a death ray on the moon. Or with…..oh…this is just stupid….isn’t it. Trying to make a square peg fit your round hole….in your head. The problem is guns….or knives…or hammers…or golf clubs…or baseball bats….or even hummers and B-52′s. The problem is mentally deranged people who choose to randomly kill other people. And oddly enough nearly every one of them is a liberal democrat. Go figure.

      Report this comment

      Strider26  
    • randy1bella2
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 1:34pm

      Send,

      Just imagine, imagine, imagine…no need to escape from reality in order to pretend reason where there is none. What about living in the real world virtually all fire-arms crimes are committed with handguns.
      That is the issue here ladies and gentleman, we are dealing with dreamers, and since one cannot limit their dreams, these libs will continue to ram legislation at all of us, whatever they can dream about (if we ultimately let them: IF)

      Report this comment

      randy1bella2  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 2:27pm

      Oh I don’t know JZS/MEETEEYORES…those gorgeous 1911′s in the picture can put a hole in your scrawny vegan body bigger than any AR15 could and much more efficiently. ..Just imagine….

      Report this comment

      AvengerK  
    • EgbertThrockmorton
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 2:35pm

      I am positive DrunkUncleJoe, will indeed make an a** out of himself, and the entire country, by engaging in his normal behavior. He demeans women publicly (his domestic violence speech reference) give illegal in all fifty states “legal” advice-he’s an attorney-you know, and “thinks” firing a shotgun through a door at unknown and unseen threats is somehow legal. Yes indeed, we are completely screwed when he appears in Rome. Hopefully, his SS handlers can keep him from the sacramental vino, and keep from from cracking Priest-Pedo jokes. I do hope that he insists on a side trip to Venice, hopefully, he can fall in a canal (ANY canal) and we won’t have to listen to his drunken drivel anymore.

      Report this comment

      EgbertThrockmorton  
    • Ben__Franklin
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 3:20pm

      It is the Barber’s fault. He did not heed the warnings of the Lefty Liberals and purchase that Fiddy’Cent sign that said “Gun Free Zone” for his store window.

      Here’s your sign Meteors….

      Report this comment

      Ben__Franklin  
    • sasquatch08
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 3:34pm

      @sendthemeteors:

      “Just imagine what this guy could have accomplished with an AR-15 with a 100 round drum! He coulda been another Aurora type guy!”

      That’s a pretty busy car wash or barber shop that has 82 people in it…

      You make no sense.

      Report this comment

      sasquatch08  
    • shogun459
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 3:35pm

      Sendthemeteors:

      Look at all the people Killed by the Writtings of Karl Marx and Mao. MILLIONS died because they refused to Fit the liberal Cookie CUTTER of human ability.

      They didn’t fit in so they where Killed that’s because they had all been disarmed First.

      BTW they both killed far more with in Russia and China than Hitler did.

      Hope your proud of the Icons at whos alter you worship blindly.

      Report this comment

      shogun459  
    • Newtowns-Third-Law
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 4:07pm

      Wow, there sure are some ruff tuff cream puffs on this thread!

      Here’s a visual for you – “put a hole in your scrawny vegan body bigger than any AR15 could” – what a Big man! Sounds like Billy The Kid! What’s your body count, Mr. Kid? How many notches you got?

      Report this comment

      Newtowns-Third-Law  
    • wmcritter
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 4:32pm

      @Send
      Imagine what he could have done with a couple bags of fertilizer and a Ryder truck! (Oklahoma City)
      Imagine what he could have done with a boxcutter on an airplane! (9/11)
      Imagine what he could have done with a microphone and a few million anti-semites fawning over his every word! (Hitler)

      There is no such thing as a dangerous weapon, only dangerous people. It is this simple, undeniable truth, that liberals are incapable of grasping. I don’t know if it is a mental disease or a form of mental retardation, but liberalism makes people incapable of rational thought.

      Report this comment

      wmcritter  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 4:50pm

      NEWTOWN….it’s particularly intimidating when a self-appreciating buffoon like you wheezes his smack through the safety and anonymity of the internet.
      By the way….try NEWTON you drooling imbecile.

      Report this comment

      AvengerK  
  • G-WHIZ
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 12:18pm

    Aftera few weeks of MSM-LIES the truth is the shooter is a Democ-rat-jihaddist who had changed to that “peaceful” ISLAM!!

    Report this comment

    G-WHIZ  
  • StormRider
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:54am

    Just had a guy released from prison in Washigton state. The day he is released, the family has a party for him. After the party he kills both grandparents and steals their car, then gets in a shootout with police. So progressives How’s that re-habilitation thing working out?

    Report this comment

    StormRider  
    • shogun459
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 3:37pm

      I’d say it’s working perfectly, since it is SUPPOSED to cause enough CHAOS that the average Joe begs the Government to do ‘WHATEVER IT TAKES’ to stop the madness the Obama Gov. has caused.

      See Working As Intended.

      Report this comment

      shogun459  
  • udidntbuildthat
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:39am

    This is right near Ilion, NY where the original Remington Arms manufacturing location has been open since 1816. I wonder how much longer until NY’s high taxes and gun control force them to close this historic location.

    Report this comment

    udidntbuildthat  
    • Female
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 1:34pm

      Worse it had nothing to do with the story.

      What I found interesting was just by happenstance 2 of the murdered were retired correctional officers. Why don’t they arm themselves? This could have been stopped when the guy walked in with a shotgun.

      Report this comment

      Female  
    • TEOTWASWKI
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 3:02pm

      ” 2 of the murdered were retired correctional officers.”
      ————————————————————————————————————————————————–
      I wonder if that had anything to do with the motive.

      Report this comment

      TEOTWASWKI  
  • kfogs1957
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:36am

    I thought New York has for years had the toughest gun control laws? You see, you can outlaw guns, but you will never outlaw insanity. Punishing law abiding gun owners because of the whack jobs is fools gold.

    Report this comment

    kfogs1957  
  • shorelineliz
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:26am

    Oops. Boozy Uncle Joe is gonna have to walk that one back.

    Report this comment

    shorelineliz  
  • Altxend0
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:24am

    I was at a McDonald’s in upstate NY and they had the blaze on the tv.

    Report this comment

    Altxend0  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:23am

    .
    I was hoping it was that kid with his Pop Tart run amock………….

    Report this comment

    SpankDaMonkey  
  • AmericanStrega
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:14am

    The article stated that no police officer was hurt. Really? Didn’t the shooter kill the police dog? Poor guy. He was just doing his job. (I’m not being sarcastic. Just wish the writer of this article could have reported differently).

    Report this comment

    AmericanStrega  
  • Cavallo
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:12am

    So some of the victims were prison guards? Did this myers guy do time?

    Report this comment

    Cavallo  
  • RodT82721
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:01am

    In stead of all the liberals wanting to ban guns, how about getting rid of the bad guys?
    If you use a gun in a crime, it’s off to the death houes, no get-out-of-jail free cards, no sympathy for being nuts.
    Have a trial, if convicted of using a gun in your crime, it’s all over. A couple of months for whining from the left, then assuming room temprature via the method of the state.
    I bet this would really lower the number of crimes with a gun.

    Report this comment

    RodT82721  
    • Bullitt2008
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:23am

      The Progressive Socialist Democrats want to get rid of guns belonging to law-abiding Americans, NOT the “bad guys.” How are criminals going to vote Democrat while they’re in prison?

      I’m still waiting for the stagecoach double barrel “Joe Biden” edition shotgun to come out. Need one for the back door.

      Report this comment

      Bullitt2008  
  • woodyee
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 10:51am

    They should have listened when he fired his Joe Biden Warning Shots.

    Report this comment

    woodyee  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 10:50am

    Great! Now Biden will decide he wants our shotguns too. He will not get anything….shotguns nor AR15′s.

    Report this comment

    thegreatcarnac  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 12:54pm

      Restricting all guns is certainly Biden’s and every progressive’s goal.

      Report this comment

      Gonzo  
  • spirited
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 10:48am

    Well, of course shot guns will be included in the “funda~>mental<~change".

    Next!

    Report this comment

    spirited  
  • MisterSarcastic
    Posted on March 14, 2013 at 10:47am

    There’s that picture again. The one that violates the flag code and disrespects the flag itself.

    Report this comment

    MisterSarcastic  
    • Strider26
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 11:46am

      I rather think it meant to symbolize how this country came into being, stayed free and needs to be defended now if necessary. Symbolism sometimes doesn’t follow the policies and codes in order to present an idea or stir a reaction. Really need to look at the forest and not the trees in this case.

      Report this comment

      Strider26  
    • MisterSarcastic
      Posted on March 14, 2013 at 5:15pm

      You’re either a troll stirring the pot or you’re an idiot. That’s not a valid excuse to violate the flag code. They could have made their point without disrespecting the flag.

      Report this comment

      MisterSarcastic  

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