Police kill suspect in upstate New York shooting spree

Police on Thursday shot and killed a 64-year-old man suspected of killing four people and wounding two others in back-to-back shootings in upstate New York. The man, identified as Kurt Myers, had been holed up since Wednesday evening in an abandoned building in the small town of Herkimer, about 225 miles (360 kilometers) north-west of New York City. "This morning law enforcement officials entered the building and, after being fired upon, shot and killed the suspect," Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement, adding that no officers were injured in the altercation. The incident began Wednesday morning, when Myers set fire to his apartment, in the small town of Mohawk, which neighbors Herkimer, police said. He then went to a nearby hair salon, where he killed two customers, one aged 68 and the other aged 57, and wounded two more, before driving to Herkimer, where he killed two patrons at a car wash, according to the police. He fled the scene, but ultimately abandoned his car and took refuge in the abandoned building, where he was killed. Police chief Joseph D'Amico had said the motive for the shooting spree was still unclear. Myers had no criminal record, aside from an arrest for drunk driving in 1973. Several firearms and a cache of ammunition were found in his home. The latest shooting comes amid a national debate over lax gun laws in the United States, following the massacre of 26 people, including 20 children, at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut in December.