By RICK MILLER
Olean Star
OLEAN — The Olean man shot by state police after he pointed a handgun at them outside his North Seventh Street home early Wednesday was reported in critical but guarded condition at Erie County Medical Center Thursday.
Three troopers who had responded to an emergency call of a possible suicidal person at the residence shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday shot Thomas A. Wright, 23, of Olean, multiple times after he pointed a black pistol at one of the officers.
The troopers, who were not identified, and Olean Police at the scene gave the man emergency medical care until paramedics from the fire department arrived and he was transported by ambulance to Olean General Hospital. Wright was later taken to the Buffalo hospital where he is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds.
State police had not filed charges against Wright as of late Thursday.
A black BB gun pistol was recovered from the scene of the shooting. It was the weapon Wright had pointed at troopers. “It looks very much like a real gun,” State Police Troop A Commander, Major Amie Feroleto, told reporters at a press conference in Batavia Wednesday where body cam video was shown.
She said the shape of the firearm mimicked a real handgun and there was poor lighting in the area where the shooting occurred. “This obviously looked like a gun.”
It appears to be the second time Wright has been involved in an officer-involved shooting. The Bradford Era reported Wright was involved in a similar trooper-involved shooting in July 2022 when he allegedly pointed a plastic pellet gun at Machias-based troopers and was shot. He was treated and released after the incident — which also involved an emergency call of a possibly suicidal individual — and later charged with misdemeanor menacing.
Faroleto told reporters a sergeant and two troopers were speaking with Wright for about 11 minutes prior to the shooting. Body cam video shows him pulling out the gun and pointing it at one of the troopers, she said. They responded by ordering him to drop the weapon, then fired their 45-cal. pistols, hitting him multiple times. With the investigation pending, citing the ongoing investigation, Feroleto declined to say how many times Wright was shot, or how many shots troopers fired.
