A New York man is being charged with second-degree murder after allegedly shooting and killing a UPS driver in Ithaca, who he reportedly thought was president-elect Donald Trump, according to The Blaze.
Ithaca police officers responded to a shooting report at 12:52 a.m. last Thursday, finding the body of William Schumacher, 52 of Candor, New York, a UPS driver. According to officers, the culprit had left the area before they arrived.
The suspect, identified by the Ithaca Police Department as Justin Barkley, 38, initially refused to stop when pulled over by police after allegedly fleeing the crime scene. This led to an 8-hour standoff after shooting at pursuing officers, according to local news station WBNG.
Barkley confessed to the killing, but later claimed that he killed Donald Trump, not Schumacher, according to the New York Daily News.
"I shot and killed Donald Trump purposely, intentionally and very proudly," Barkley told Judge John Rowley, according to the Daily News. He claimed to have known that Trump would be there on that day, and that he waited for the president-elect.
The judge refused to accept a guilty plea until after a "730 examination — an order directing psychiatrists to determine whether the defendant is capable of standing trial," according to Barkley's attorney, speaking to the Daily News.
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