Herkimer Shooting: 4 Dead, Police on Manhunt in Upstate NY
Police are on the hunt for a suspect accused of shooting at least six people in Herkimer, New York.
Four victims are dead and another two wounded after an unidentified man opened fire at Gaffey's Fast Lube in the village of Herkimer, 65 miles east of Syracuse. Two additional victims were shot at John's Barber Shop in the village of Mohawk.
The two locations are about 1-and-a-half miles apart. Officials, who are still looking for the gunman, have released few other details about the shooting. Schools in the area have been put on lockdown, according to one local resident.
"Everybody's on lockdown, all the schools, the college, the village," Amanda Viscomi, Herkimer's acting clerk-treasurer, told the Associated Press. "It's very, very scary."
Despite the concern however, "everything is calm," Viscomi told CNN.
Herkimer, N.Y. has a population of about 7,700 residents. Herkimer County Community College is located within the area. The shooting occurred in the morning hours. By late morning, SWAT teams and police helicopters were surrounding the area near Freddy's Jewelers, according to the Utica Observer Dispatch, a local paper.
Officials are unsure if the suspect is still on foot. One witness suggested that the gunman may have been picked up by a taxi.
"I think this guy is trying to prove a point," Jason Ackler, who claimed his best friend's father was one of the victims shot, told the paper. "It definitely seems like he knew what he was doing."
