Quiet Neighborhood Shocked By Murder/Suicide

"POESTENKILL, NY - A 70-year-old man who may have been mentally ill shot and wounded his daughter and his granddaughter’s boyfriend before fatally shooting himself in a Poestenkill home Tuesday afternoon, Rensselaer County Sheriff Jack Mahar said.

"The violent scene at 9403 Route 66, which unfolded shortly before 3 p.m., left Laurie Fisher, 49, and Anthony Delgado, 24, hospitalized at Albany Medical Center Hospital with serious but not life-threatening injures, officials said. Robert Pryor, the suspected shooter, was pronounced dead an hour later.

"Mahar said the preliminary investigation suggests mental health problems on the part of Pryor, who moved to the home under a month ago, but a specific motive was not known. Pryor was being assisted by Fisher’s daughter and Delgado, who were living at the home to help him with medical issues, Mahar said.

"He said the shooting does not appear to have been precipitated by an argument. Sometime Tuesday afternoon, Fisher, who was visiting, and Delgado left the home to go to the store but were contacted via cell phone and asked to return by Pryor, Mahar said.

"`Upon returning to the house, the suspect fired on the two as they entered the house and then shot himself,` he said.

"Four shots were fired in total from a revolver, Mahar said, and the two victims were each struck at least once in the chest. Pryor succumbed to a single gunshot wound to the head.

"Fisher’s daughter was not in the home at the time.

"After the shooting, Fisher was able to contact 911, and responding deputies found Pryor unconscious but alive on the sofa in the front room, where the shooting took place, as well as the victims. At least one was rushed to the hospital in a State Police helicopter.

"Mahar said three weapons were found in the vicinity of Pryor, but only one was used in the shooting. There are other weapons in the home, including firearms, he said.

"As several dogs barked in the backyard from behind a fence, authorities huddled under a tent in the rain as they awaited a search warrant to fully inspect the premises. District Attorney Richard McNally was on the scene being briefed on the incident.

"The shooting shocked neighbors, who described the neighborhood as a quiet one."

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