Former officer indicted
Sean Mckown allegedly fired service weapon, claims Black male shot first.
An Essex County grand jury has indicted former Cohoes police officer Sean T. Mckown on misdemeanor charges related to an off-duty June 6 incident in Elizabethtown in which he fired his service weapon and later claimed a Black male had shot at him first.
Months after authorities took a pass on charging Mckown, the four-count indictment handed up against the 46-year-old exofficer accused him of prohibited use of weapons, two counts of falsely reporting an incident, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling. All are misdemeanors which carry a maximum of a year in jail. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Mckown, a remember of the Cohoes force for more than 19 years and the department’s former canine officer, retired in
August. Cohoes Mayor Bill Keeler, a retired State Police official, said retirement was less costly and risky than suspending Mckown and going through arbitration.
As the Times Union first reported on July 27, the incident took place on Lincoln Pond Road outside Mckown’s residence.
Mckown, who is white, called 911 and told State Police that after a confrontation with Black youths outside his home, a Black male had displayed a gun and fired at him. Mckown said it prompted him to fire his own weapon four times as he retreated. He said he ditched the gun, according to sources familiar with the case.
The sources said when troopers showed up to respond to the 911 call, they noticed Mckown smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes. Mckown told them he had returned home from a gathering and spotted a number of Black youths in front of his home.
It emerged that some of the youths, who were visiting the Adirondacks, were apparently lifting cellphones to seek service. Mckown said he asked what they were doing and asked them to get away from his home and neighborhood.
The incident took place as the nation was in the midst of civil rights demonstrations that erupted after the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Mckown told the troopers that he had approached the group two
more times and then grabbed his gun. This time, he claimed, a Black male lifted his shirt and displayed a gun in his waistband. Mckown said he heard a pop, which he thought was a gunshot fired at him. He said he fired four shots out of fear for his life, ran out of bullets and ditched his gun while retreating.
Mckown later called the State Police back, allegedly confessed that his story was false, and admitted the Black male did not display a gun or shoot at him. Instead, he fired his departmentissued gun into a tree stump and threw the weapon away.
Sources said the troopers did not believe Mckown’s second version either because they believed he neatly placed the weapon down. They described his statements as “extremely inconsistent.”
People familiar with the matter told the Times Union that on June 10, Essex County District Attorney Kristy Sprague and her top assistant met with State Police and told them there was not enough evidence to prosecute Mckown on charges of menacing or filing a false police report. In early August, hundreds of Adirondack residents and others signed a letter that was presented to Sprague asking the prosecutor to fully investigate the incident.
By then, troopers had ended their probe. On July 31, State Police spokesman Beau Duffy said the investigation into the incident was closed but if “new information on this case is brought forward, we will consult with the district attorney ’s office and re-open the investigation, if war
ranted.”
State Police later rejected a Freedom of Information Law request from the Times Union seeking records on the case, saying that to do so would “interfere with a law enforcement investigation.” The spokesman then confirmed that State Police and Sprague’s office had agreed to take additional investigative steps.
The grand jury handed up the indictment on Nov. 25. Mckown was arraigned Dec. 3 by Essex County Judge Richard Meyer, who released him on his own recognizance.
Mckown’s attorney, George Lamarche III, told the Times Union on Thursday his client voluntarily surrendered last week. Lamarche said he expects to receive evidence from prosecutors in the coming days or weeks.
Asked how Mckown is faring, Lamarche said, “He’s doing as well as he can do knowing that a grand jury has leveled four criminal charges against you, but we’re optimistic about the future and we’re going to review everything and prepare to move forward in defending him.”
In a news release Thursday, Sprague’s office said tentative pretrial hearing dates are set for February and March.
Keeler, the mayor of Cohoes, previously said if the allegations against Mckown were proven to be true, it would constitute behavior unbecoming of a police officer. Two years ago, police in Illinois arrested Mckown for allegedly driving under the influence. Mckown pleaded guilty to reckless driving and received a month of court supervision. Back home in Cohoes, he was suspended without pay.