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Massena police identify man who died of apparent self-inflicted shotgun wound to head following pursuit by officers

Posted 11/16/11

MASSENA – Village Police Chief Timmy J. Currier says the suspect police had pursued this morning is dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. Currier reports Derek J. Ober, 19, 7 Amherst …

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Massena police identify man who died of apparent self-inflicted shotgun wound to head following pursuit by officers

Posted

MASSENA – Village Police Chief Timmy J. Currier says the suspect police had pursued this morning is dead of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.

Currier reports Derek J. Ober, 19, 7 Amherst Rd., Massena, was found dead by police in the shed behind his home after eluding police this morning.

According to police, the morning's events started at 8:13 a.m. when police received a phone call from 556 1/2 South Main St. complaining that Ober had fired a shotgun twice and was in the back yard threatening to kill himself.

As police were attempting to locate Ober, they received two more phone calls informing them that Ober had crossed the Raquette River in a canoe and still had the shotgun with him. He was reportedly walking toward Amherst Road.

"One of our officers suspected that Mr. Ober might be heading to 7 Amherst St., so he responded there and when he arrived he observed Mr. Ober running across the lawn and into the front door of 7 Amherst Road," Currier stated. "In a matter of seconds, a discharge of a firearm was heard.

Currier said police then secured the perimeter and searched the property for Ober, finding him in a shed in the backyard dead of an "apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head."

Currier said he then immediately made a request of the state police to take over control of the scene and to conduct an independent investigation into the death of Ober.

"In a case with these types of circumstances, it is vital that an independent investigation be conducted so that everyone knows what happened. Although I have complete trust and faith in my staff's abilities, in this type of case, I want there to be no doubt as to what happened," Currier stated.

State police, U.S. Border Patrol, St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Deputies, the Massena Fire Department and Massena Rescue Squad all assisted at the scene.

Ober was no stranger to area law enforcement, having been in trouble for alleged cocaine and pot possession, shoplifting at Walmart and Radio Shack in Massena and other offenses. As recently as Sunday night, he was charged with felony aggravated unlicensed operation and driving while intoxicated after he allegedly drove out of the St. Lawrence County Correctional Facility parking lot without turning on his lights.

At that time, sheriff's deputies discovered that his license had been suspended six times.

Currier pointed out in the release that a number of steps had been taken to secure the scene and ensure the safety of the public, including clearing people from nearby homes and notifying local schools to recommend they implement emergency plans.

And in fact, Massena schools were locked out -- "no one in, and no one out" -- for a time this morning as police pursued Ober, according to district Clerk Candy Prairie.

Prairie said that as of 9:22 a.m., the lock out at the schools was rescinded after police had found Ober.