SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Schenectady police say Ryan Kent, a 10-year veteran of the force, and Brett Ferris, a nine-year veteran, were the two detectives involved in Monday evening's shooting at First Avenue and Sunset Street.
Police say only one officer fired their weapon, but they're not releasing which one that was.
According to the police department, Joshua Scism approached the two plain-clothed detectives with a gun, while they were in the area conducting an investigation. McCracken said Scism was not the target of the investigation. After a short conversation, investigators say he was walking away, when he flashed a gun to the detectives, and then pointed it at them as they were getting out of their vehicle.
He was then shot, and later died at the hospital.
"Officers were completely, totally, utterly justified in the force that they took," said Lt. Mark McCracken. "They saw the gun, they exited the vehicle and as they were producing their weapons and identifying themselves, he now has his gun out, and that's when the exchange took place."
Police also searched his First Avenue home Monday night, but they have not said whether they have found anything relevant to the investigation there. They have also not said whether he had a criminal record.
Right now, the Schenectady police stand behind the officers.
"We go to work every day with the intention of making our jurisdiction, our city, our community safer," McCracken said. "For that to have happened to them, it's a traumatic incident, and they will need time to cope with it, get through it, and process it and get some closure."
As is protocol, those detectives have been placed on administrative leave as the investigation into the shooting continues.