Police investigating shooting death in Lexington
LEXINGTON — The fatal shooting of a 68-year-old man in the town of Lexington on Wednesday afternoon has been ruled a suicide, state police Public Information Officer Steven Nevel said Thursday.
State police were called around 1:30 p.m. to the Lexington Mission Church at 3974 Route 42, which is across from the Lexington Post Office. Police found the body of a man behind the church. The man sustained a gunshot wound to the head, state police said.
Police have declined to release the man’s name.
The man was driving a vehicle when he was pulled over by police. He exited his vehicle and ran.
“He was apparently being stopped for a vehicle and traffic investigation,” Nevel said. “Everything else is under investigation.”
Lexington Postmaster Lubko Kizymah, who was working across the street, said Thursday he looked out the window and saw several officers arrive “with their guns ready.”
Police tape cordoned off the area around the church and the immediate vicinity of Route 42 was closed to traffic as investigators combed through the scene.
The incident remains under investigation, state police Senior Investigator William Fitzmaurice said Thursday.
The circumstances that led up to the shooting have not been released, but Fitzmaurice said investigators are continuing to develop leads and interview members of the man’s family.
Greene County Coroner Hassan J. Basagic III confirmed Thursday that the victim was a man, 68 years old, who lived near the church where the shooting took place. An autopsy was scheduled to be performed Thursday at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, Basagic said.
