Police shoot, kill man with grenade at hospital

A man was shot and killed by police Friday night after he threatened to kill himself and others with a hand grenade. Police say they received reports of a distraught man on his way to Bon Secours Hospital

News 12 Staff

Dec 15, 2007, 11:50 PM

Updated 6,115 days ago

Share:

A man was shot and killed by police Friday night after he threatened to kill himself and others with a hand grenade.
Police say they received reports of a distraught man on his way to Bon Secours Hospital in Port Jervis Friday night. The man was threatening to harm himself and others, they say. Police arrived on the scene shortly after and surrounded the man in the hospital?s rear parking lot.
Moments later, police say they opened fire in a split-second decision after they believed the man held a hand grenade and was preparing to use it. After police shot the man, the State Police Bomb Squad was on the scene and was able to safely secure the grenade.
The deadly shooting is only the second of its kind involving local police in a time period that spans over 20 years. Many nearby residents say it?s the kind of shooting they hear about on television but never experience. They say now that it has happened just a few feet away from their homes, they are afraid.
?I live right around the block,? Bill Schnoor says. ?So some old guy is walking around with a hand grenade? What else is gonna happen??
For now, members of the town are glad no one other than the man responsible for the chaos was injured. The four Port Jervis officers involved in the shooting are home on paid leave, pending medical clearance to return.
Police tell News 12 Westchester they don?t know why the man was heading to the hospital or how he got the grenade, and they say they will not release his name until the investigation is complete.