Two New York Officers Shot In Leg, Face


Updated: March 17th, 2006 02:06 PM EDT


 
TY CHANDLER
WROC


First cop shooting in decades in Wyoming County lands a Bennington man in jail.

30 year old Joseph Cordier Jr. is charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer. Investigators say it started out as a domestic call from Cordier's Bennington home, right outside of Attica Wednesday night around 6:00pm.

Wyoming County Undersheriff Paul Donnelly said Cordier had threatened to harm himself, but harm came to the responding officers instead.

"Immediately the suspect fired from inside the house, striking both officers," Donnelly explained.

At first, neighbors didn't think much of the gunfire since Bennington is a rural community.

"I went to the window and I saw an officer pulling another officer by his belt across the street," said Maggie Unger.

Unger lives across the street from Cordier. The two officers found cover behind her cherry tree. Fortunately for them Unger is a nurse. When night fell, her husband directed the wounded officers inside the home and Unger went to work.

"I treated them and thankfully they had very minor wounds," she recalled.

Wyoming County Sheriff's Deputy Greg Rudolph was shot in the face. He underwent surgery Wednesday night, but has since been treated and released. The other officer was Andy Houghton of the Attica Police Department. Donnelly said Houghton was shot in the leg. He was treated and released from the hospital Wednesday night. This is the first time in the history of the Attica Police Department an officer has been shot in the line of duty. It's been more than two decades since a Wyoming County Sheriff's Deputy has been shot.

"My heart goes out to all the officers and their families, because they put it on the line everyday," said Unger. "Thankfully everything turned out positive this time." She said. Not so positive for Cordier. He kept police at bay for nearly twelve hours until tear gas forced him out of the house. He is being held in the Wyoming County jail without bail.

"We're happy things ended the way it ended. We got the bad guy. He's been arrested. He's in jail," said Donnelly.

Donnelly said they don't know what prompted the shooting. Suicide by cop is one of their theories, though Donnelly said Cordier never gave officers a chance.