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By EMERSON CLARRIDGE and ELIZABETH COOPER
Observer-Dispatch
Posted May 27, 2010 @ 01:01 PM
Last update May 28, 2010 @ 11:03 AM
NEW YORK MILLS —
When a 79-year-old retired Griffiss Air Force Base worker bent on revenge walked into a village AT&T store Thursday afternoon, he had one intent — to kill six employees.
He began his grim mission by taking aim with a .357 Magnum at a 37-year-old store worker at the front counter and firing.
But before Abraham Dickan could shoot any of the other employees whose names he carried on a letter in his pocket, the Utica man was shot dead in the middle of the store by an off-duty Rome police officer who happened to be there shopping, authorities said.
As disturbing as the violence was in the region’s retail center on Commercial Drive, it could have been much worse.
“He’s a hero,” Rome Police Chief Kevin Beach said of Officer Donald Moore. “I don’t think there’s any other way to describe it.”
Worker Seth Turk, who was shot in the abdomen, was listed in critical condition Thursday night at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica.
Dickan, of 26 Richardson Ave. in South Utica, had previously clashed with the AT&T employees and had displayed a gun at least once before, police said.
Following those incidents, AT&T corporate officials had banned the gunman from the store and reported his behavior to New York Mills police. Those complaints led to Dickan’s pistol permit being revoked, police said.
On Thursday, Dickan returned just before 1 p.m. with a different gun, the .357 Magnum, police said.
In the note found in his pocket after the shooting, Dickan also wrote about being angry that his pistol license had been revoked, police said.
Dickan had no criminal history, police said, and they were investigating whether he had a history of mental problems.
Moore shot Dickan dead with his personal .40-caliber handgun, police said. It was unclear whether he had identified himself as a police officer before he fired and how many times he discharged his gun.
An autopsy is scheduled to be conducted on Dickan Friday.
Fleeing to safety
Customers and AT&T employees alike fled the store after hearing the shots.
A frightened employee ran into the adjacent Harley-Davidson of Utica store, where workers locked down the store and provided refuge to people running from the shooting scene. The AT&T employee made sure none of them was the gunman.
And a customer who pulled up to the AT&T store to get his cell phone fixed encountered an arriving police officer who, with pistol drawn, told him to lie flat on the ground.
Moore, who has been a member of the Rome Police Department for 2½ years, received an award last year for helping to save an 11-year-old girl from drowning.
“You could never ask for a better outcome beyond what happened — everyone in the building was extremely fortunate that officer was in there,” New York Mills police Chief Robert Swenszkowski said.
AT&T corporate spokeswoman Alexa Kaufman said the company was doing everything it could to support its employees and cooperate with police.
“Our employees are the most important thing we’re focused on right now,” she said. “It’s not clear when the store will reopen, but it will be closed for at least a few days.”
Customer: I heard ‘Pop, pop, pop’
Whitesboro resident Michael Bieksza was inside the AT&T store buying screensavers for his daughter’s cell phone, speaking to a manager and an assistant manager at the counter.
Then he heard a “pop, pop, pop,” as he described it later, and turned and saw a bearded man with a gun. Dickan said nothing, witnesses inside the store said.
Bieksza saw the wounded employee lying on the floor, and the stores’ managers and Bieksza immediately ran out a side door.
“When you hear that many shots, you think he’s just going to start spraying people,” Bieksza said. “I was always taught to get out of the area and get to a safe place. The two women (managers) were on my mind. My main concern was get the two ladies out.”
He said he heard more shots as they were running outside.
Later, Bieksza said, “I thought to myself, 'Why did I happen to be here at this particular time?’ I do thank God that I am still here because it’s a scary feeling.”
More than an hour after the shooting incident, he was still trying to reach his wife to tell her what had occurred.
Employee: Suspect already was banned from store
AT&T employee Peter Abraham, who was not present when the incident occurred, said Dickan’s actions had become so troubling in the past that he’d been banned from the store one month ago.
Abraham said Dickan would disturb other customers and continually made critical remarks about AT&T employees.
“He was always saying remarks that he didn’t like us and that we should quit our jobs,” Abraham said.
Dickan had shown other employees a licensed gun in the past, he said, although he said he had never seen the gun himself.
Abraham had been asked to come in early on Thursday, but he said he couldn’t make it. He was at Sangertown Square when he received a telephone call about the incident and rushed to the store.
Utica police also responded to see if it was related to the armed robbery of a bank on Mohawk Street earlier in the day, but found it wasn’t.
Commercial Drive was closed to traffic for at least an hour after the incident as some 30 emergency vehicles filled area parking lots and Commercial Drive.
By EMERSON CLARRIDGE and ELIZABETH COOPER
Observer-Dispatch
Posted May 27, 2010 @ 01:01 PM
Last update May 28, 2010 @ 11:03 AM
NEW YORK MILLS —
When a 79-year-old retired Griffiss Air Force Base worker bent on revenge walked into a village AT&T store Thursday afternoon, he had one intent — to kill six employees.
He began his grim mission by taking aim with a .357 Magnum at a 37-year-old store worker at the front counter and firing.
But before Abraham Dickan could shoot any of the other employees whose names he carried on a letter in his pocket, the Utica man was shot dead in the middle of the store by an off-duty Rome police officer who happened to be there shopping, authorities said.
As disturbing as the violence was in the region’s retail center on Commercial Drive, it could have been much worse.
“He’s a hero,” Rome Police Chief Kevin Beach said of Officer Donald Moore. “I don’t think there’s any other way to describe it.”
Worker Seth Turk, who was shot in the abdomen, was listed in critical condition Thursday night at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica.
Dickan, of 26 Richardson Ave. in South Utica, had previously clashed with the AT&T employees and had displayed a gun at least once before, police said.
Following those incidents, AT&T corporate officials had banned the gunman from the store and reported his behavior to New York Mills police. Those complaints led to Dickan’s pistol permit being revoked, police said.
On Thursday, Dickan returned just before 1 p.m. with a different gun, the .357 Magnum, police said.
In the note found in his pocket after the shooting, Dickan also wrote about being angry that his pistol license had been revoked, police said.
Dickan had no criminal history, police said, and they were investigating whether he had a history of mental problems.
Moore shot Dickan dead with his personal .40-caliber handgun, police said. It was unclear whether he had identified himself as a police officer before he fired and how many times he discharged his gun.
An autopsy is scheduled to be conducted on Dickan Friday.
Fleeing to safety
Customers and AT&T employees alike fled the store after hearing the shots.
A frightened employee ran into the adjacent Harley-Davidson of Utica store, where workers locked down the store and provided refuge to people running from the shooting scene. The AT&T employee made sure none of them was the gunman.
And a customer who pulled up to the AT&T store to get his cell phone fixed encountered an arriving police officer who, with pistol drawn, told him to lie flat on the ground.
Moore, who has been a member of the Rome Police Department for 2½ years, received an award last year for helping to save an 11-year-old girl from drowning.
“You could never ask for a better outcome beyond what happened — everyone in the building was extremely fortunate that officer was in there,” New York Mills police Chief Robert Swenszkowski said.
AT&T corporate spokeswoman Alexa Kaufman said the company was doing everything it could to support its employees and cooperate with police.
“Our employees are the most important thing we’re focused on right now,” she said. “It’s not clear when the store will reopen, but it will be closed for at least a few days.”
Customer: I heard ‘Pop, pop, pop’
Whitesboro resident Michael Bieksza was inside the AT&T store buying screensavers for his daughter’s cell phone, speaking to a manager and an assistant manager at the counter.
Then he heard a “pop, pop, pop,” as he described it later, and turned and saw a bearded man with a gun. Dickan said nothing, witnesses inside the store said.
Bieksza saw the wounded employee lying on the floor, and the stores’ managers and Bieksza immediately ran out a side door.
“When you hear that many shots, you think he’s just going to start spraying people,” Bieksza said. “I was always taught to get out of the area and get to a safe place. The two women (managers) were on my mind. My main concern was get the two ladies out.”
He said he heard more shots as they were running outside.
Later, Bieksza said, “I thought to myself, 'Why did I happen to be here at this particular time?’ I do thank God that I am still here because it’s a scary feeling.”
More than an hour after the shooting incident, he was still trying to reach his wife to tell her what had occurred.
Employee: Suspect already was banned from store
AT&T employee Peter Abraham, who was not present when the incident occurred, said Dickan’s actions had become so troubling in the past that he’d been banned from the store one month ago.
Abraham said Dickan would disturb other customers and continually made critical remarks about AT&T employees.
“He was always saying remarks that he didn’t like us and that we should quit our jobs,” Abraham said.
Dickan had shown other employees a licensed gun in the past, he said, although he said he had never seen the gun himself.
Abraham had been asked to come in early on Thursday, but he said he couldn’t make it. He was at Sangertown Square when he received a telephone call about the incident and rushed to the store.
Utica police also responded to see if it was related to the armed robbery of a bank on Mohawk Street earlier in the day, but found it wasn’t.
Commercial Drive was closed to traffic for at least an hour after the incident as some 30 emergency vehicles filled area parking lots and Commercial Drive.
