Witness recounts stabbing, shooting in Saranac Lake

SARANAC LAKE | An encounter on Wednesday morning between a man with a knife and Saranac Lake police officers began with a stabbing in the street. Broadway resident Cody Sanford saw what happened and called police before the young man, whose name has not been released, reached Stewart's Shops. Sanford shared the entire sequence of what he witnessed in an interview with the Sun. Please be aware there are chilling details in his narrative. "I left my house on Broadway, about 8:20, and I took my kid to daycare, got in the car and went to Stewart's like I do every day. As I was turning the corner (onto Bloomingdale Ave.), I saw a guy with knife out, in the middle of the road. He was right past the yellow line. He was pointing the knife at these two people, who looked to be between 40 and 60, a man and a woman." The older man was walking, backing away from the younger man with a knife, toward a vehicle. He and the woman got into it. "It looked like the kid with a knife was coming back to his feet. The couple was trying to distance themselves from him," Sanford said. "Once they got back into their car, he concealed the knife." Sanford said the knife was black, about the size of his palm, and he called it a "pocket knife" but it was not a small jackknife. Sanford immediately called the police to report that a man was stabbed. He also saw Stewart's employees gathered in the parking lot and decided to alert them. The alleged assailant was walking toward the store. "I drove up ahead of him, past him, and stopped in the parking space across the street. There was a Stewart's manager in the parking lot, and I told her what I had seen. I was on the phone with the police the entire time." Sanford said he then pulled into the Stewart's parking lot. The alleged assailant asked him for a cigarette. "I did see a child walking into the store. I went to try to be at the door in case there was a kid there," he told the Sun. "By the time I got to the door, he was standing there, his back to the building, he was smoking a cigarette." Police had arrived at this point. "And the cop walked up to him, she was very professional, extremely professional, I just want people to know that. The first thing she said was 'Are you okay?'" Sanford did not hear a clear response from the man. "I don't know what he said. He was kind of hard to understand, like mumbling." Then he heard the officer ask the man to show her the knife. "He said 'I can't do that', Sanford recounted. "And she said "Why not?" The last thing I heard him say was something about personal items. I was going into the store to try to keep people from going out." A few seconds later, the door closed, Sanford said. "He jumped at her with the knife. He lunged at her and caught her in the side. As their bodies collided. I heard a 'pop pop.' He screamed in pain and fell on the ground. She immediately tried to do life-saving procedures. "At that point, I started distancing myself. But the Stewart's manager tried to help as well. When the ambulance arrived, another guy in civilian clothes was trying to do chest compressions on him." In an evening news update, Saranac Lake Police said the female officer fell, and her partner fired his gun. "At approximately 8:32 a.m. officers from Saranac Lake Police Department received a 911 call reporting a male had been stabbed on Bloomingdale Avenue and a suspect was fleeing the area," Saranac Lake PD said. "At this time the officers instructed the male to surrender the knife. The male refused and charged the officer with the knife. The officer tried to move away and stumbled as she retreated. The second officer at the incident discharged his service weapon stopping the suspect from getting to the fallen officer. Officers immediately rendered first aid and called for an ambulance." Sanford described the person with the knife as a younger Black man. Saranac Lake Police said his name has not been released, pending notification to family. Sanford said the man's behavior was unusual. "Something was off. He had just stabbed somebody. And he was calm and collected. He wasn't causing a scene. He stabbed a guy and walked down to Stewart's and was asking for cigarettes as if nothing happened. "I really do commend that police officer, what she did," Sanford said of the police action. "Me being somebody who walked right by him as it happened. I look at her as a hero. Had she not stepped in, he could have hurt somebody else. I had just dropped my kid off at daycare. I immediately thought about my little boy. That's not the last time I wanted to see him." "It's really sad," Sanford said of the stabbing and shooting in what is usually a quiet town. Sanford said he was not able to make it to his workplace Wednesday, as his car was part of the crime scene taped off by State Police. He was brought to Ray Brook Troop B headquarters and interviewed as part of the investigation. The crime scene was released about 3 p.m., Sanford said. He was able to get his vehicle. Police said the stabbing victim was taken to Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake for injuries that are not considered to be life-threatening. The alleged assailant was transported to Adirondack Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased, police said. In a news release, Saranac Lake Police Chief Darin Perrotte said he requested State Police investigators and the Attorney General's office to assume control of the investigation into the deadly use of force incident to ensure transparency. "The New York State Police and the Attorney General's Office will work in a timely fashion to complete the investigation. We will do our best to keep the family and community apprised of the progress of the investigation. Members of the Franklin County District Attorney's Office are also assisting." Perrotte said this is a complex investigation that will involve numerous statements, a review of collected data and substantial analysis of evidence by the forensic laboratory and other sources. Chief Perrotte extended his condolences to the family of the deceased man. "This is a tragic incident that will have a heavy impact on the family, officers and our community." Anyone who may have additional information can contact State Police at 518-873-2750.

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Witness recounts stabbing, shooting in Saranac Lake

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