In the early hours of Sunday, September 25, 27-year-old Broome resident Richard Welden was shot and killed by New York State Police troopers after a confrontation near his sister's house on Route 145.
Police say that troopers who responded to a domestic dispute at the house found Welden armed with a shotgun. Welden refused to drop his weapon and fired at troopers, who returned fire, shooting and killing Welden.
The Albany Times-Union spoke with several neighbors and has a story about the incident:
[Neighbor Clayton] Lawyer, who watched from his house just 50 feet away on wooded Route 145, said Welden yelled at the troopers that he didn’t care that he died, and that troopers shot Welden only after he fired at them.
Juanito Sedias was shocked to watch the shooting because he said Welden was such a kind neighbor. After many of the homes in the area were severely damaged by flooding after tropical storms Irene and Lee, Welden put emergency water and food in a boat and floated it out to people whose homes were still underwater, said Sedias, who also lives on Route 145.
