Official Shot DoorDash Driver Who Asked for Directions, Police Say

A town official in Chester, N.Y., opened fire on a food delivery driver who had come to his home to ask for directions, shooting him in the back, the authorities said.

The official, John J. Reilly, has been charged with felony assault, Orange County prosecutors said. Mr. Reilly, 48, is the highway superintendent for the town of Chester, roughly 50 miles north of New York City. He is also a federally licensed firearms dealer, the police said.

According to the police, a DoorDash driver got lost while trying to deliver food to a home on Valerie Drive on Friday night. Struggling to navigate with his phone, the driver began going to different homes on the block to ask for help.

When he reached Mr. Reilly’s home, he was told to leave the property. But when he attempted to leave in his vehicle, Mr. Reilly fired several times at him, striking him once in the back and causing “serious physical injuries,” according to the police.

The driver, whose name has not been released by the authorities, required emergency surgery. His injuries are “serious, but not at this time expected to be fatal,” according to a spokesman for the Orange County district attorney’s office.

“We’re devastated by this senseless act of violence, and we’re wishing the Dasher a full and speedy recovery,” a DoorDash spokesman said in a statement. “We’ll continue to work closely with law enforcement as they investigate this tragic incident.”

The shooting carried echoes of an incident in 2023, in the town of Hebron, N.Y., north of Albany, when a man opened fire on a car that had mistakenly entered his driveway. A 20-year-old woman sitting in the passenger seat was killed. She and her friends had been trying to find a friend’s home in the area.

The shooter in that case, a 66-year-old man, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison last year.

“I think it’s important that people know that it is not OK to shoot people and kill them who drive down your driveway,” the judge said during the man’s sentencing.

In 2023, a Black teenager in Kansas City was shot twice by a homeowner after knocking on the wrong door while trying to pick up his siblings. The shooter, Andrew Lester, an 86-year-old white man, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a second-degree assault charge, but died just a few days later, before he was sentenced.

Mr. Reilly is white; little information about the person he shot has been released.

In a statement on Monday, the Chester town supervisor, Brandon Holdridge, said the investigation into Mr. Reilly would be handled solely by the State Police, with no involvement from the Chester police, given that Mr. Reilly is a town official.

“We are deeply troubled by what has been reported so far,” Mr. Holdridge said in a statement. “We hope the person who was injured in the incident makes a full and healthy recovery.”

Mr. Reilly has been the town’s highway superintendent since 2021. He was re-elected in 2023 and is in the middle of a four-year term.

He was arrested on Saturday and has been charged with assault in the first degree, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and criminal possession of a firearm.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday morning in the Town of Chester Court.