3 Killed and 9 Wounded By an Upstate Sniper, 18
A teen‐aged sniper described as honor student killed three persons and wounded nine others with rifle and shotgun fire in and around the Olean (N.Y.) High School yesterday before siurendering to state troopers and city policemen who stormed the school under a barrage of tear gas and gunfire.
National Guard tanks, police. armored vehicles and fire trucks rumbled into a cordon around the school during a two‐and‐ahalf‐hour siege that stunned the city of 18,200 about 55 miles south of Buffalo, just above the Pennsylvania border.
At least 10 persons were trapped on the first floor of the four‐story red‐brick school in central Olean as the suspect, 18‐year‐old Anthony Barbaro, a senior at, the school and the best shot on its 10 man rifle team, ranged over the third and fourth floors, spraying the streets and surrounding neighborhood with rifle fire.
The police said he had shot and killed a janitor on the building's third floor, a man walking in the street outside and a young woman driving a car past the school. Most of the wounded were firemen seeking to retrieve the fatally wounded man in the street.
As darkness fell, dozens of state and local police officers invaded the school under the cover of tear gas and gunfire and captured the suspect unharmed and wearing a gas mask about 5:30 P.M. on an upper floor of the building. He was taken to Police Headquartars for questioning.
The youth was charged with three counts of murder last night. He was scheduled to be arraigned at 9 A.M. today before Judge James F. Crowley in City Court.
The police said the motive for the shootings remained unclear last night. They said they had found a 12‐gauge shotgun and a .30‐06 rifle with a telescopic sight, along with ammunition for both weapons, lying on the ground outside the school. The suspect had apparently thrown the weapons out a window before he was seized, the police said.
Hollow‐nosed bullets— which splatter on impact—were used in the .30‐06, a circumstance that the police said could account for the numerous flesh wounds suffered by most of the wounded.
The suspect, identified by the police as the son of Ned Barbaro, of 301 South Eighth Street in Olean, ranked eighth scholastically in his class of 292 seniors and was under consideration for a college academic scholarship.
Joann Wehmeyer, head of the Olean High School English department, expressed disbelief when told young Barbaro was the suspect. She described him as “very bright, very sensitive, an excellent student.”
Wounded Listed
Louis Nicol, the school principal, said the Barbaro youth joined the rifle team when it was formed three years ago, and won a trophy for best marksmanship in a countywide match last year, and was “number one” on the team this year.
“He wasn't extremely active, maybe more of a loner,” Mr. Nicol said. “But he was no problem whatsoever; he'd probably be the last person you would fear for doing something like this.”
The man shot dead in the street was identified as Neal Pilon, 58, an employe of Columbia Gas of New York, a supplier of propane gas in the western part of the state. The two other persons who were fatally shot were listed as Earl Metcalf, 63 years old, a school janitor, who was shot in the left side of the chest, and Carmen Wright, 25, of Olean, the driver of a passing car, who was shot in the head.
A spokesman for Olean General Hospital said nine persons, including eight firemen, were wounded, one critically. They were listed as:
Herbert Elmore, 43, a fireman, shot in the head, in critical condition and sent by ambu lance to Buffalo for special surgery.
Joseph Snopkowski, 55, a fireman, shot in the stomach, in fair condition.
Earl Weidt, 23, a fireman, several puncture wounds, good condition.
Albert Abdo, 37, fireman, elbow injuries, good condition.
William Fromme, 35, a fireman, several superficial puncture wounds, treated and released.
Julius Wright, 12, a brother of Carmen Wright and a passenger in her car. He suffered a minor eye injury when bullet fragments grazed him, and he was treated and released.
Three other firemen who suffered wounds from bullet fragments were released after treatment were identified as David Grosse, 28, Raymond Limerick 40, and George Williams, 36.
According to the police, the Barbaro youth entered the school, on a hill in a heavily populated central residential district, was closed for the holiday recess, but some doors were unlocked because administrative, clerical and maintenance personnel were working in the building.
In the building at the time, in addition to the janitor, were Mr. Nicol; George Pancio, director of special projects for the Olean School District; Richard Scott; business manager of the school; Richard Krott, the superintendent of maintenance, a secretary and three other women, all members of the clerical staff, and two students, Lindsay and Leslie Perry, twins who had stopped to pick up some books from a classroom.
Apparently, according to the police, the Barbaro youth encountered Mr. Metcalf in a third‐floor hallway and shot him dead. He then piled up some cardboard boxes in the corridor and started a small fire.
Mr. Pancio, who was working on the first floor with other school personnel, smelled the smoke and went upstairs to investigate.
Finds Body
“I ran up to the third floor,” he recalled in an interview. “It was full of smoke. I saw a body on the floor and went over and pulled the man up. He was dead, shot in the left side of the chest.”
Mr, Pancio also said he saw cartridge shells and the glass shards of broken light bulbs littered over the corridor and surmised that the killer might still be in the building. So he returned to the first‐floor office and telephoned the Fire Police Departments.
Mr. Pancio and the others in the school remained in two first‐floor offices as the sniper began firing from classroom windows upstairs and authorities began arriving and encircling the school building.
Miss Wright, fatally wounded in the passing car, and Mr. Pilon, who was shot dead in street outside, were apparently among the first of the young gunman's victims. Several firemen, including Mr. Elmore, were wounded as they tried to go to Mr. Pilon's aid.
Mobilizing its own manpower at the school, the Police Department summoned‐state troopers from the nearby Allegany barracks as well as Allegany firemen. Four National Guard tanks, two armored cars and a number of fire engines and pumpers were drawn up to provide cover for authorities, who were unable to reach Mr. Pilon until about 4:30 P.M.
Shooting Began at 3:50
The shooting, which began about 3:05, continued sporadically for about 90 minutes, then ceased until the final police assault. During the siege, the gunman ranged over the building's upper floors from classroom to classroom.
School personnel on the first floor kept in touch with the police by telephone but made no attempt to leave the building.
Cannisters of tear gas were lobbed through the broken windows and a hail of gunfire was set up to enable police to gain access to the school as the siege drew to a close.
Young Barbaro, thin and clad in a white sweatshirt dropped his weapons and surrendered without a struggle as policemen moved in. He was being held in the municipal jail, pending arraingnment to day.