Livingston County Sheriff Tom Dougherty says the man who died in a volley of gunfire last month after firing on police and leading them on a tractor-trailer chase across three counties might have been planning something bigger.
The sheriff says items recovered from Joshua Blessed’s home in Weyers Cave, Va. included 14 improvised explosive devices, two AK-47s, a sniper rifle, thousands of rounds of ammunition and more than $48,000 in cash. Dougherty says he believes Blessed had become radicalized and was planning some sort of attack before he reacted to a traffic stop in LeRoy by fleeing from officers who tried to question him.
During a rampage on that night of May 27th, Blessed crashed his tractor-trailer into police cars and fired at least 24 rounds at officers from a 9mm Glock pistol that was recovered after his death. Officers including State Police, Livingston and Genesee County Deputies and LeRoy Police were fired on. Seven law officers returned fire, dischsrging 129 shots over the 75 minutes of the chase. Blessed was hit four times, and was finally shot in the head and killed. More than 90 rounds hit his truck. Somehow, no police or civilians were injured.
Sheriff Dougherty believes the incident was Blessed’s choice at the spur of the moment, but that he was planning something more threatening.