Herkimer County shootings

The Herkimer County shootings were a shooting spree that took place on 13 March 2013 in Herkimer County, New York. Kurt Myers, a 64-year-old resident of the village of Mohawk, 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.[1][2]

Myers was pursued by police and eventually cornered in an abandoned bar in Herkimer. The standoff lasted overnight. Police entered the building at around 8am on 14 March 2013. Myers shot and killed a police dog named "Ape" and the police returned fire, killing him.[2][3]

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 little furniture in his apartment.[4] Myers had no previous criminal record aside from a 1973 arrest for drunken driving. Neighbors said he never had visitors or friends: the few who were familiar described him as an "odd little man" who rarely spoke.[2]

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 act was discussed in the light of these shootings, and vice versa.[2][5]