Two teens shot dead in Syracuse while trying to run down deputy: Sheriff

Two teenagers involved in a 10-hour crime spree in suburban Syracuse were shot dead by a deputy when they tried to run him down in a stolen car, according to his sheriff.

The deadly shooting came after deputies stopped two cars in DeWitt early Wednesday while investigating car thefts and at least two overnight smoke-shop burglaries, Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley told a press conference.

“One of the vehicles flees. The other vehicle … attempts to run our deputy over,” the sheriff said, saying it was going “fast enough to run someone over and kill them.”

“He fires three shots,” he said of the deputy, who has not been identified.

“He had nowhere to flee to,” the sheriff said. “This whole thing happened in seconds. He had no options.”

The car was driven away but crashed nearby, the sheriff said. A sergeant responding to the crash found one of the teens dead and “performed life-saving measures with negative results” on the other occupant, Shelley said.

Officials did not identify the victims beyond saying they were teenagers.

Sources told Syracuse.com they are 15 and 17 years old. 

A third suspect in the car fled, as did those in the other car stopped before the shooting.

A witness filmed the shooting, the sheriff said, without making the footage public.

Shelley said the teenagers were involved in a crime spree that began at around 9 p.m. Tuesday, when a Kia and a Hyundai were stolen in Syracuse. The stolen vehicles were then connected to a burglary at the OQ Smokeline in Onondaga at around 4 a.m., Shelley said.

Officers found the side door of the store smashed, Syracuse.com reports, and surveillance footage showed two groups arriving in a dark van and a white sedan.

They then entered through the smashed door, police said, and stole an unspecified number of items from the store before fleeing.

That same group was also involved in similar incidents later in the morning in Onondaga County, Shelley said, when the vehicles were spotted in a burglary at a smoke shop on East Molloy Road in DeWitt.

The deputy who shot the teens had been investigating that burglary, Shelley said, when someone called 911 to report suspicious activity at the nearby Midler Meadows mobile home park.

The 6:18 a.m. caller reported seeing three or four men wearing dark clothing, and moving items between a sedan and a dark-colored minivan.

The deputy then responded to the mobile home park, realizing the vehicles the caller mentioned matched the description of those seen on video from the smoke shop burglary.

The deadly shooting was the “tragic” result of a “chain of events over 10 hours,” said the sheriff, who said he has been in contact with the victims’ families.

His office is also in contact with the District Attorney’s Office and the New York State Attorney General’s Office, which is required by law to investigate any deaths caused by police officers in the state.

Letitia James’ office confirmed later in the day that it was doing a “preliminary assessment” of the fatal shooting.

The deputy is on 72-hour paid administrative leave, standing protocol for officer-involved shootings.