SHERBURNE – The accused gunman in a fatal shooting on Classic Street and his alleged victim were acting like “best friends” at a nearby bar one hour before the incident took place early Saturday, a bartender who served them says.
According to police, at around 2:40 a.m. Joshua T. Story allegedly shot Kallin P. Richards, 24, New Berlin, while Richards sat in his vehicle outside Story’s residence inside the Sherburne Meadows Apartment complex. Reportedly, Richards was attempting to leave after the two men had a physical altercation, Sheriff’s deputies say.
Story, 23, of 33 Classic St., Sherburne, is currently being held at the Chenango County Correctional Facility in Norwich. He is scheduled to appear in Village of Sherburne court Thursday on charges of 2nd degree murder.
The bartender at the Honky Tonk Saloon who served Story, Richards and two other unidentified men they were there with, says the pair was having “a good time” and gave no indications of being at odds.
“They each had a shot and a beer. Then they played a couple games of pool like best friends,” said the bartender, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We had no suspicions.”
The bartender said Story and Richards left at around 1:45 a.m., adding that neither appeared drunk. Both had two drinks and played pool for an hour to an hour-and-a-half.
They had each been in the bar, located on Classic Street next to Frontier, once before on separate occasions. The two reportedly never had any sort of altercations there.
Whatever happened after Story and Richards left was not a result of anything that occurred at the Honky Tonk, affirmed the bartender.
Story and Richards were said to have worked together at the Baillie Lumber in Smyrna.
Douglas Webb, who lives about a football field away from Sherburne Meadows Apartments, thought he heard a gunshot sometime around 2:30 a.m. He was up getting ready for work as a member of the town highway crew, and didn’t learn of the murder until later that morning.
“It is scary,” said Webb, whose mother lives in the nearby complex. “It kind of makes you think a bit about what could happen. A lot of things run through your mind.”
Webb added: “I’d have to say people were shocked when they heard. We’re not in a big city, you know? But I still think we’re pretty safe around here.”
This is the second fatal shooting in the Sherburne area in less than a year. Last week, there was also a domestic dispute that led to a suicide in the village.
“I was kind of shocked,” said David Corey, whose backyard borders Sherburne Meadows. “You know it happens. But you don’t think it would happen so close to your neighborhood. We’re only a hundred-fifty, two hundred feet from where it happened.”
Corey says while out of the ordinary, he doesn’t see the recent violence as an ongoing trend.
“I still like the neighborhood,” he said. “It’s a nice neighborhood.”
Richard Brazee, a resident of Classic Street, had just gotten home from Florida the day after the shooting when he heard the news.
“Not too much happens in Sherburne,” he said. “This is quite different, surprising.”