On a tragic Saturday evening in Rome, New York, 43-year-old Daniel J. Casey was fatally shot in what police have described as a murder-suicide. The incident, which unfolded on May 9, 2020, also left Casey's sister wounded and the gunman dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The events began to escalate when Rome police were called to a residence at 107 Whittier Avenue for a report of shots fired.
Upon their arrival, officers discovered Daniel Casey deceased in the driveway from a gunshot wound. Inside the home, they found his sister, who had sustained a gunshot wound to her abdomen but was still alive. She informed the police that her ex-boyfriend was the shooter and that he had also shot himself.
The suspect was found deceased inside the residence. A 12-gauge shotgun, believed to be the weapon used in the shootings, was recovered at the scene. Investigators later revealed that just an hour before the fatal encounter, Casey's sister had filed a domestic incident complaint against her ex-boyfriend. She had met with officers in a public parking lot to document his harassing behavior for future family court purposes, but at the time did not allege any physical abuse and did not want to press charges.
Family members who were on the phone with the victims as the tragedy unfolded recounted hearing a heated argument followed by gunshots. They stated that the shooter was upset that his ex-girlfriend was seeing someone new and that the family was in the process of helping her move out of the shared residence. The woman had reportedly told her father to stay in an upstairs bedroom for safety as she was preparing to leave with a U-Haul truck just before the shooting began. She was transported to a local hospital and was expected to survive her injuries.
