Watertown Police Statement:
“On 01/18/2026 at 5:32 am we responded to a domestic incident in the 300 block of S. Rutland St. Through the course of the incident, it was determined that there was a male barricaded inside a vehicle threatening suicide.
Our crisis negotiation team established contact with the male and began negotiations with the assistance of our Special Response Team and the Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team. The male stopped communicating with us. The male was then found deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The investigation is ongoing with the assistance of the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
We were assisted by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police Jefferson County Emergency Management 911 Center, the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, and Guilfoyle Ambulance.”
Joseph A. Giaquinto
Detective Lieutenant
