A 24-year-old man from New York State shot and killed his 80-year-old grandfather in his home. He then killed himself in a state park while police were looking for him very actively, they said.
Police Chief Scott Peters told a press gathering that at 5:38 a.m. on Thursday, June 27, someone called from a home screaming that there was “blood everywhere.” This is what the Irondequoit Police Department found out.
When police arrived, they found 80-year-old Joseph Deponceau dead inside the front door.
“He was dead, and he looked like he had been shot in the upper torso,” Peters said.
Andrew Vahey, Deponceau’s grandson, is the person who called 911. She was not hurt and told cops what happened and who the suspect was.
He said that police went to Vahey’s nearby house and surrounded it.
It was 7:20 a.m. when they called Vahey’s friend, who was inside the house. He was said to have told Vahey through text message that “he had just killed his grandfather and was now going to kill himself,” Peters said.
They quickly found out that Vahey was in Livingston County and told other police departments about the type of car he was driving, he said.
Vahey’s body was found in Letchworth State Park by the New York State Park Police. Other police departments then joined the search for him, Peters said.
The park was closed and PEOPLE were told to leave while they looked for him.
Peters said that Vahey was caught by police in the park with what looked like a long gun.
When police tried to talk to Vahey, he shot himself and was declared dead at the scene, Peters said.
“That family lost a grandfather and a grandson at the same time,” he said. “Today, there’s a family that is hurting.”
Vahey and his grandpa “had a fight about property, about the house, in the last couple of weeks,” Peters said.
“We never thought that something so small would turn into this situation.”
That’s all, he said. Last week, cops were called to the house because the two were fighting over “parking on the grass.” Before, we never had any trouble.
