The Herkimer County shootings were a

shooting spree A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations w ...

that took place on March 13, 2013, in

Herkimer County, New York Herkimer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,139. Its county seat is Herkimer. The county was created in 1791 north of the Mohawk River out of part of Montgomery County. It is named a ...

Incident

Kurt Myers, a 64-year-old resident of the village of

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

, set fire to his apartment before 9:30am and proceeded to a barber shop in Mohawk. Myers briefly spoke to the barbershop owner John Seymour before opening fire, killing two customers and injuring Seymour and another customer. He proceeded to a car wash in the nearby village of Herkimer, where he killed an employee and a customer. Myers was pursued by police and eventually cornered in an abandoned bar in Herkimer. The standoff lasted overnight. Police entered the building around 8am the next day. Myers shot and killed a police dog named "Ape" and the police returned fire, killing him.

Aftermath

No motive for the shootings is known. At the time of the shooting, Myers had no savings, no job, and was maxed out on all his credit cards. He also had very few items of furniture in his apartment. Myers had no previous criminal record aside from a 1973 arrest for

drunken driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is i ...

. Neighbors said he never had visitors or friends: the few who were familiar described him as an "odd little man" who rarely spoke. The shootings occurred a few months after the signing of the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013, or

NY SAFE Act The New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013, commonly known as the NY SAFE Act, is a gun regulation law in the state of New York. The law was passed by the New York State Legislature and was signed into law by Governor of ...

. The act was discussed in the light of these shootings, and vice versa. The building where the stand-off took place was demolished in 2015 after a series of minor collapses.

References

2013 active shooter incidents in the United States 2013 murders in the United States Mass murder in 2013 2013 mass shootings in the United States Spree shootings in the United States Attacks in the United States in 2013 March 2013 events in the United States Mass shootings in New York (state) Mass shootings in the United States Mass murder in the United States Animal cruelty incidents {{crime-stub