Saratoga County DA closes probe into police shooting with no charges

PHOTOGRAPHER: Stephen Williams

Saratoga County District Attorney Karen A. Heggen announced Tuesday that the fatal police shooting of an Edinburg man who pointed a shotgun at officers last June was justified.

Heggen said she had concluded her investigation into the killing of Richard LaPort, 50, outside his residence on Foxhill Road on the night of June 29, 2014.

“My office has reviewed all of the evidence and information involved in this incident and has found that there is no reasonable evidence that the actions of the members of law enforcement were anything but justified,” Heggen said.

Heggen also revealed for the first time that LaPort initially contacted 911 that night at about 10 p.m., saying he wanted to talk to the district attorney. While he told a sheriff’s dispatcher he had information to pass on to the district attorney, he never explained what it was. LaPort also told the dispatcher he was going to shoot himself, Heggen said.

Autopsy results found both alcohol and prescription drugs in LaPort’s system. He was the only person in the house at the time.

While the emergency call was initially answered at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, it was then transferred to a Saratoga County dispatcher.

Both sheriff’s deputies and state police arrived at LaPort’s residence about 10:50 p.m. After attempting to contact him using the public address systems in their cars, they heard a gunshot from inside the residence. A few minutes later, police said LaPort came outside onto his porch with a shotgun, and refused to comply with “numerous” requests to put the gun down.

Police said he went in and out of his house multiple times over the next half-hour while they tried to negotiate with him. They said he continued to refuse to put down his shotgun, and Heggen explained he threatened law enforcement officers who were present. At one point, he fired twice into the air and then went back inside.

Police said the next time he came onto the porch, he appeared “very agitated. During this verbal exchange, Richard LaPort lowered his shotgun to a position where he was pointing it directly at the police, presenting an imminent threat to the police that he was about to use deadly force.”

At that point, two sheriff’s deputies and a state police officer fired their weapons, Heggen said. LaPort was struck once and was pronounced dead at the scene.

“I am concluding this investigation and closing our file,” she said.