New information about the December 9th shooting on Plain Street came to light during the recent meeting of the Tompkins County Public Safety Committee.
Committee Chair Legislator Rich John said the victim’s spinal cord was severed by the shooting and they “likely will never walk again.”
The victim was last reported to be in serious but stable condition at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital.
John’s description of the shooting included the suggestion that more than one of the individuals involved in the altercation were armed and that there was an exchange of gunfire between the parties.
“They ended up drawing guns and shooting at each other and one of the people got shot and it severed their spinal cord,” John said. “This just seems totally senseless on so many levels.”
Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne credited the quick arrest of a suspect, Eymel Deas, 28, to the recently implemented Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) program. GIVE is a statewide strategy created by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (NYDCJS) to reduce gun violence and shootings in New York State.
“Our GIVE grant has made a difference in that it allowed a very rapid response, coordinated response with the sheriff’s deputies participating and catching the person really, really fast,” Osborne said. Deas was arrested approximately 14 hours after the shooting.
As part of the GIVE program, a list of those involved in major crimes is maintained by the Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney, Tompkins County Probation and the City of Ithaca Police Department.
“All the agencies working together, the District Attorney, probation, myself, IPD, we have, so to speak, like a list of people that we know have been involved in certain types of crimes, the major crimes. One of the people was on that list,” Osborne explained. “We pay special attention to the people that we know are involved in these violent crimes.”
District Attorney Matt Van Houten commended the coordination between agencies.
“I can say it was absolutely a joint effort that was a combination of things, including the GIVE program and identifying individuals who are suspected to be involved with guns. And that information having been disseminated to other, all the agencies in Tompkins County which made the sheriff’s deputies familiar with the individual,” Van Houten said. “It’s a really good team effort.”
“I hope this is an indicator of where we’ll be on future shots fired incidents in in our community,” John said near the conclusion of the discussion. “Whatever the involvement of the person who got shot, that’s a personal tragedy, too. And it certainly didn’t need to happen, you know. There wasn’t any benefit to anybody in that mess.”
Deas has been charged with Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, Assault in the First Degree, & Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, class B & C felonies.
Ithaca Police state that this case is still under investigation and any witnesses who are yet to come forward are asked to contact the department via the following means. Those who wish to remain anonymous may do so.
Police Dispatch: 607-272-3245
Police Administration: 607-272-9973
Police Tipline: 607-330-0000
Anonymous Email Tip Address: www.cityofithaca.org/ipdtips