New Report: Police Fired First Near Rensselaer

There’s new information this morning about the police-action shooting Q101 told you about yesterday. State Police originally reported that officers shot and killed a rural Rensselaer man after he fired at them. But according to an updated news release, further investigation show that 42-year-old Wilmer Messer’s shotgun wasn’t loaded at the time. The updated report says Messer leveled the gun at officers with his hand in firing position, and that’s when a trooper shot Messer with a rifle to protect the other officers.