Suspect died from self-inflicted gun wounds
SOLVAY -- A 16-hour standoff on Conklin Street in Solvay ended Wednesday morning when a Camillus man turned a gun on himself.
Joseph Schell, 29, was taken to Upstate Hospital in critical condition where he was pronounced dead at 8:00 am, about two hours after he shot himself, according to Undersheriff Warren Darby. Schell's family was notified of the shooting.
The standoff began just before 2:00 p.m. Tuesday and ended shortly after 6:00 a.m. Wednesday. Darby says no one else was in the two-family house at the time.
Authorities were looking for Schell on an outstanding warrant for violating probation and a domestic incident in Camillus, where he lived.
Darby says Schell broke into his ex-girlfriend's home on Warners Road in Camillus on Monday and holding her at gunpoint for several hours. The woman called police after the incident.
Officers were looking for Schell in Camillus when they were tipped off to Schell’s location in Solvay. When officers arrived at the house on Conklin Street, Darby says Schell opened fire.
Darby says officers were in communication with Schell the entire time. They spoke to him by phone and also sent in robots with cameras and intercoms.
Schell told officers that he refused to go back to jail. Darby says Schell threatened to kill himself if officers entered the house.
At one point officers used tear gas in attempts to get Schell to surrender, but he remained inside the house.
Residents in the area were displaced overnight after police evacuated a three block area around the home.
Police believe Schell may have had acquaintances at the residence.
No one officers or neighbors were injured.
