He fired at police in Snow Shoe, wanting to ‘die by cop.’ He’s set to be sentenced
A Clarence man who exchanged gunfire with state police pleaded guilty and is set to spend at least three years in prison, according to Assistant District Attorney Crystal Hundt.
State police said Franklin Furl III initially shot at a cat with a woman around the corner in December 2017 as she was attempting to leave her Snow Shoe residence with her pets. During her call to police, Furl allegedly said he would “take out as many (cops) as he can and he won’t go out alive.”
The 54-year-old refused to answer the door after police arrived, but during a phone conversation, he said he would “shoot the first cop that makes entry into his door and wished to die by suicide by cop.”
The special emergency response team then responded to 231 Walnut Road and were the first to fire a shot after Furl pointed a rifle in the direction of six SERT members. “Several rounds of gunfire were exchanged” before police eventually used tear gas to get him to surrender.
Furl pleaded guilty in November to 10 felony counts of aggravated assault, eight misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person and five misdemeanor counts of terroristic threats, according to Hundt.
Attempted homicide and assault of a law enforcement officer charges were among those that were dropped in exchange for his plea.
The plea agreement will have to be accepted by Judge Katherine Oliver during Furl’s sentencing Thursday, but the agreement is for no more than six years in prison, along with 10 years of consecutive probation.
This story was originally published January 15, 2019 at 9:29 AM.