DeWitt, N.Y. — The New York State Attorney General’s Office has opened a special investigation into the deaths of two teens who were shot by an Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office deputy Wednesday.
The teenagers were shot Wednesday morning after the stolen car they were in nearly ran over the deputy, according to Onondaga County Sheriff Toby Shelley.
The two killed were 15 and 17 years old, according to two sources.
The AG opens a special, full investigation of an incident if its assessment determines that an officer caused or may have caused the death of an individual.
A spokesperson for the AG has said these announcements do not imply wrongdoing by the officers. The investigation will determine if there was wrongdoing and whether officers should face criminal prosecution.
The AG will either present evidence to a grand jury and seek an indictment or issue a public report explaining why the office chose not to present evidence to the grand jury, according to an annual report issued by the Office of Special Investigations.
The teens were shot near the Midler Meadows mobile home park in DeWitt, Shelley said at an afternoon news conference. That vehicle was suspected of being involved in two overnight burglaries, he said.
The deputy was alone when the driver of the stolen vehicle tried to run over him, Shelley said. The deputy fired three shots, he said.
The sheriff said a witness’s video shows the deputy didn’t have time to get out of the way.
The video has not been made public. The deputy, who has not yet been publicly identified, was wearing a body camera but didn’t have it turned on at the time of the shooting. Shelley said the deputy didn’t have time to turn on the camera.
The deputy “had nowhere to flee to. This whole thing happens in seconds. He had no options,” Shelley said.
The deputy was not injured, the sheriff said.
The chain of events started around 9 p.m. Tuesday, when two vehicles were stolen from the area around James Street and Hixson Avenue in Syracuse, Shelley said. One was a Kia and one was a Hyundai.
Those stolen vehicles were connected to a 4 a.m. burglary of a smoke shop in Oneida, the sheriff said.
An alarm went off at OQ Smokeline store in the Glenwood Plaza, according to Oneida police. Officers found the side door of the store smashed, police said. Surveillance footage shows two groups arriving in a dark van and white sedan and then entering through the smashed door, police said.
Items were taken from the store and then the two vehicles left, police said. It was the same group involved in similar incidents later in Onondaga County, police said.
Wednesday morning, the same vehicles were seen in a burglary at a smoke shop on East Molloy Road in DeWitt, Shelley said.
The burglary call was at the Prince Smoke Shop on 176 E. Molloy Rd, according to the source, who had been involved in a briefing on the matter.
The deputy involved in the shooting was investigating the East Molloy Road burglary when someone called 911 to report suspicious activity at the mobile home park, Shelley said.
The 6:18 a.m. caller reported three or four males wearing dark clothing moving items between a sedan and a dark-colored minivan at the mobile home park. The deputy responded to the mobile home park, knowing that the vehicles the caller mentioned matched the description of those seen on video from the smoke shop burglary, Shelley said.
Moments after arriving, Shelley said, one of the suspects’ vehicles tried to run over the deputy. The deputy pulled out his gun and fired three times, the sheriff said.
Both suspect vehicles fled the scene. One of them hasn’t been found. The other was located back near the location of the initial car burglaries, when it crashed shortly before 7 a.m. on Mooney Avenue in Eastwood, Shelley said.
There, one occupant was found dead and another was near death, the sheriff said. The second occupant died shortly after a deputy attempted life-saving efforts, Shelley said.
A third person in the vehicle with the deceased has not been found.
Shelley did not provide the ages of the two deceased teens, saying their identities hadn’t yet been confirmed.
Nevertheless, Shelley said deputies had been in touch with family members of the deceased.
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Staff writer Rylee Kirk covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, story idea, photo, question or comment? Reach her at 315-396-5961, on Twitter @kirk_rylee, or rkirk@syracuse.com.