Police investigating officer-involved shooting in Downtown Canandaigua

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. – Canandaigua Police said that two of their officers shot and wounded a man who was brandishing a firearm on Main Street in Canandaigua. The man was airlifted to Strong Hospital.

The shooting happened in broad daylight on S. Main Street in Canandaigua, just steps away from businesses. According to police the man was uncooperative with officers and had what appeared to be a firearm. He was then tased after he ignored the officers’ commands. As the suspect left troopers said he pointed the firearm at the officers, who then shot him.

People who live and work nearby are shocked, many reacting to Monday’s shooting.

“I saw a bunch of police officers chasing after a guy telling him to stop,” John Tafuri said.

He lives in the neighborhood just feet away from the shooting. Although some say it’s scary others say it’s just a sign of the times. Canandaigua Police, New York State Police and the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office all responded after calls came in for a suspicious person at the 7-Eleven on S. Main Street.

The owner of Tenax Town Cleaners explains he had no idea what was going on. He just heard loud sirens racing down the street.

“My help and I went out and we were looking, and it was just massive sirens going and people going in and we looked out again and we say they actually had the tape, they actually taped the highway,” Bob Muto said.

Crime scene tape blocked off S. Main Street and law enforcement was redirecting traffic. An employee at Faro’s Pizzeria knew it was serious when she saw the heavy police presence.

“It doesn’t sound good, you know just to see cop cars everywhere it’s scary,” Alivia Ginther said.

This is just a short distance from where Brandon Zurkan, 31, was shot and killed by law enforcement on Feb. 28. He was being pursued by them after someone reported a driver firing off a gun from his vehicle in East Bloomfield. Two Canandaigua Police officers and two sheriff’s deputies fired shots at him after he crashed in Canandaigua.

A neighbor who lives on S. Main Street and was heading home for his lunch break explains he saw the shooting unfold and is not surprised and remembers the last police-involved shooting.

“There was a shooting that just took place just a couple of months ago, there was a car chase so it’s the world we live in I guess,” Tafuri said.

The New York State Attorney General’s Office is investigating both shootings.