Shot Fired at Cook’s Liquor Did Not Involve Police Force, Despite Rumors

Cook’s Liquor Store was the scene of a suicide that took place on Wednesday, February 26 at around noon. While few details were released out of respect for the family, Hamilton Police Chief Rick Gifford confirmed that law enforcement was present at the scene.

“We were summoned to the liquor store through the New York State Tax Department. The department had a tax levy for back taxes and they asked us to assist them. We responded to the scene to keep the peace … our officer was on standby for the tax department to do their work.”

The incident took place midmorning on Wednesday. On campus, for a period of time after the incident took place, there was speculation that police had been under fire or had used force against an individual. However, according to Gifford, that was not the case.

“A short time afterward there were a lot of social media reports that a police officer was shot and killed, and those are not true,” Gifford said. “Essentially, everyone was leaving the scene and that was when the incident took place. There was no use of force against the community.”

Chief Gifford took the incident to be simply an unfortunate and unavoidable event.

“We are up to our knees trying to keep our community and the Colgate community as safe as we can. Unfortunately tragic things happen, and this is a very very sad and unfortunate situation,” Gifford said.

The “Blue House,” as it was commonly known, is closed for further notice. The business was a staple of the business community along 12-B in the Village of Hamilton.

Contact Nate Lynch at [email protected] and Jordan Plaut at [email protected].