Goal was to take Sheridan into custody without incident, state police say

RUSSELL, New York (WWNY) - State police say their goal was to take Shawn Sheridan into custody without incident when they showed up to arrest him as a fugitive from justice in a remote wooded area in the town of Russell earlier this month.

That’s according to new information on the August 10 incident released by state police on Wednesday.

Instead, Sheridan was shot dead after he fired upon Trooper Connor Sutton and his K9 partner, Skiff. Sutton wasn’t injured.

Another goal, state police say, was to locate Sheridan’s 19-year-old girlfriend, Chantelle Myatt, who had been reported missing on July 27. She was unharmed in the shootout. She told 7 News this week that she and Sheridan had been camping for about month, surviving on wild game they trapped.

Troopers say forensic evidence has confirmed that Sheridan had fired one of his weapons toward Sutton and Skiff. At first, it was thought that Skiff had been shot, but she was treated for a leg injury she received at the scene.

Skiff, police say, had been ordered to detain the heavily armed Sheridan, but was recalled after Sheridan was no longer deemed a threat.

Troopers say Sheridan and Myatt were both dressed in camouflage clothing and Myatt was wearing what’s called a ghillie suit, which is designed to blend into natural surroundings.

Sheridan pleaded guilty to attempted assault in May in connection with shooting his former fiancée, Katrina Pierce, in the neck.

He was supposed to be sentenced on July 18, but he never showed up. He was sentenced in his absence to 12-and-a-half years in prison.

The state attorney general’s office is investigating the case. The office investigates all officer-involved shootings in the state.

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