Quiet Adironodack town, local goes whacko at church

[widgeon13]

About a half hour from where I live. Too close for comfort.

Man dies after storming into church

INDIAN LAKE — An Indian Lake man died Saturday afternoon after he entered St. Mary’s Church during a service, threw objects at parishioners and struggled with them, according to state police.

“The man just came in and walked down the aisle. When he got there, he wiped everything off the altar,” said 9-year-old Kaylie Norton, who was attending the 4 p.m. Mass at the church on Route 28N with her grandmother Donna Husson.

Norton said her grandmother ran to use a phone in a kitchen in the church to call 911. She fled with a friend of Husson’s to the safety of her grandmother’s car.

The Rev. Philip Allen said the man, later identified by State Police as 44-year-old Jason H. Berg, was very disturbed and shouted obscenities and violent words as he headed down the aisle toward him. Two members of the congregation were hit by the candle stands Berg threw halfway through the church. A man suffered an injury to his jaw and a woman was hit in the temple, according to Allen. Both were taken by ambulance to Glens Falls Hospital, where they were treated and released, police said.

A 17-year-old altar server was able to shove Berg to the ground, Allen said, even though the boy was considerably lighter than Berg. The man who was struck by one of the candle stands and other members of the congregation attempted to restrain Berg, who was continuing to resist.

“When he was on the floor with people holding him down, he was shouting ‘Kill me, kill me.’ ”

At that point, Allen said parishioners noticed Berg had a gun. Police later said that Berg was armed with a loaded .45 caliber pistol, a spare magazine, several rounds of ammunition and a pocket knife.

Eventually, Allen said Berg stopped struggling and got very quiet.

“Some time later, they noticed his hand getting blue and they were concerned about whether he was breathing,” he said.

Members of the Indian Lake Volunteer Ambulance Corps arrived and administered CPR. Efforts to revive Berg were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at the scene by Hamilton County Coroner Donald Townsend. Berg’s body was removed and an autopsy has been scheduled for Monday at Albany Medical Center.

Police had responded to what was reported initially as shots fired at 4:43 p.m, as authorities said several parishioners reported hearing what sounded like muffled gunshots coming from outside the church before the incident. Officers searched the scene but found no evidence of gunshots in the vicinity. Authorities continue to investigate.

Allen said Berg lived nearby and would occasionally see him working in the yard. It was a very scary day for the 50 people attending the service.

“They were appalled, aghast, shocked,” he said.

[GH85Carrera]

At least no one else was killed and the few injuries sound minor.

We can't protect our world from the nut cases. It sounds like he was off his meds or self medicating with Meth. That 17 year old alter server was the hero of the day. He stopped the crazy dude before he pulled his weapon.

[Rot 911]

We need to have laws against throwing objects.

[widgeon13]

All very true. I'm actually relieved it was a local and not someone coming from out of the area. We get a lot of vacationers up here in the warmer months and you never know what those downstaters will do.

Believe it or not, being an EMT, I sit in the back of church and I've thought about just this kind of scenario. Never thought it would happen here though.

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by Rot 911

We need to have laws against throwing objects.

That's just silly. We need to have background checks before people are allowed to own objects that could be thrown.

What was the cause of death?

[vash]

They hold him down with a choke hold?


Sent via Jedi mind trick.

[onewhippedpuppy]

They hold him down with a choke hold?





Sent via Jedi mind trick.

That's what I wonder. Good riddance regardless.

[widgeon13]

No word on cause of death, too early. I believe he was bipolar. He never took the weapon out that I know of and I spoke to someone who got first hand info. The seventeen yo was really the one that saved to day.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I find the name of that town offensive - I think I'm going to send a letter to the USPTO.

[widgeon13]

Good one!

[WolfeMacleod]

Well, at least he died in a church. They could have had the funeral right then and there.

[red-beard]

Wow. I spent a lot of time in that area.

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

....ran to use a phone in a kitchen in the church to call 911.

It must be a very rural area and/or a congregation of only grey-haired people if no cell phone was handy.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

It must be a very rural area and/or a congregation of only grey-haired people if no cell phone was handy.

IIRC it is rather rural. We used to travel Rt 28 to put our kayaks into the Indian River.

[red-beard]

Cell Coverage in the Adirondacks

[widgeon13]

Everybody from down south comes up here thinking they can call 911 on their cell, no joy. Of course they don't realize this until they are SOL back in the woods.

[widgeon13]

One of the problems of living up here is lack of technology access. Some of those tower locations are just approved and not installed and they don't work like those outside the Park because they can't be over 45 feet high according to APA guidelines. Indian Lake has ZERO cell coverage at present and other than the Lake Placid area is low priority due to lack of density population.