Pennsylvania man was visiting his Marist College freshman daughterOver the weekend, a homeless felon shot another father Sunday while he was staying at the Marriott Courtyard hotel. He said that it could have happened to anyone and that it has raised new concerns about the safety of his daughter.
John Bucsek, Fox News Digital’s Wednesday correspondent, said that it was so hard to feel sorry for this family. Â “Never will you think of something similar happening.”
Bucsek was a Courtyard Marriott guest New York: PoughkeepsieOver the weekend, a gunman opened fire on the lobby, killing another Marist parent.Â
He said, “I was far enough from the sound that I didn’t hear bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang banger bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang banging, bang.” “I heard this commotion.”
MARIST COLLEGE PARENT SUSPECT: HOTEL SHOOTING LINKED to ANOTHER HIGH-PROFILE KILT
Poughkeepsie police arrested Roy Johnson Jr. (35), and Devin Taylor26-year-old victim at the scene. Paul Kutz, 53 years old, was taken to a hospital and declared dead.
Bucsek explained that “there have been a few shootings lately in Poughkeepsie, and we weren’t really aware of that.” “We know it is a tiny town on the river.”
Paul Kutz and his family are photographed in an image taken in 2013.
(Facebook/Paul Kutz; Instagram)
According to him, his daughter’s dorm was located at the edge of campus and the shooting at the Hotel gave him cause for concern.
“There’s no security there, and you know how kids are – they forget the room key; they prop the door open; most people leave their dorm rooms unlocked during the day,” he said. “They need more security.”
He claimed that his daughter, and the other children in the building, had been terrified for the last few days and had difficulty sleeping.
Kutz, a Northport, New York Marist parent, was in town for Family Weekend.
Split image shows mugshots for Roy Johnson Jr. & Devin Taylor. They are the men charged in the Oct. 2, 2022, shooting in Poughkeepsie. N.Y.
(Dutchess County Jail).
Many were worried that it would rain. But Bucsek stated that just one day before the shooting, the skies clearened up and the students had a wonderful day on campus.
“We are on a Facebook [group]Everyone was with their parents and they were like, “Oh, this weekend it’s gonna rain.” It’s going. Be a monsoonHe said. “And by the grace God, it didn’t rain on Saturday. Everyone had a great time.”
He described the campus as beautiful with a tight-knit atmosphere despite it being large.
Bucsek, his wife, and their Pomeranian were staying right beneath the suspects, he stated. He believes that he might have seen Kutz the morning prior, while getting coffee in the lobby.
He said, “Now that I’ve seen his picture, I can swear I saw him in the lobby the day before.” “I’m usually in the lobby at that moment. “I just decided [Sunday]Morning to read in my bedroom.”
He said that he heard a commotion while he was doing this and that his dog became frantic and started barking and jumping. Police arrived at the hotel in a matter of minutes, he stated. He said he heard about a possible shooting by word of mouth just minutes before seeing the SWAT team in a parking lot.
Police cars outside Courtyard Marriott on Wednesday, October 5, 20,22. This is where Paul Kutz was shot and killed.
(Credit: The Image Direct For Fox News Digital.
His other daughter – not the Marist freshman – was on the phone with a friend who happened to be in town visiting her own sister for family weekend and was staying at the Marriott Courtyard hotel. She stated that she heard gunshots. Bucsek’s daughter called him back after the conversation and stated that she’d heard of a shooting in a hotel nearby.
“I said, ‘Well that explains the noise that I heard,’ and that’s how I found out,” he said.Â
The hotel phoned the man at 10:10 a.m. and advised him to stay put as a third suspect might still be out there. Although police quickly found only two suspects, hotel guests continued to hide until shuttles were provided by the hotel to take them to the campus or another Marriott property in town.Â
View of Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY, Wednesday, October 5, 2022.
(The Image Direct to Fox News Digital).
Police claim Johnson was present at another homicide, August 9, when Darren Villani (28) was shot to death in his car at Mansion Street. Johnson had also been eluding questioning about that case before Kutz’s slaying. He also had a Georgia open warrant for drug and firearms charges. He spent many years in New York state prisons for burglary, robbery, and theft. Taylor was also convicted of burglary.
Johnson was placed under arrest without bail Taylor was charged for two counts of criminal possession with a weapon. Carrying a loaded rifleCourt records show that the defendant was not assigned a serial number and was held on $1 million bond. Officials said that they found manuals and bomb-making materials in the hotel room that the men shared.
Image shows Roy Johnson’smugshot photo, taken in connection to the Oct. 2, 2022 shooting at a Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Marriott
(Dutchess County Jail).
Kutz, a Northport resident, was the owner of an accounting and financial planning company. Kutz was the father of three children, his youngest being a Marist freshman. His neighbors recalled him being “one of the finest” and praised both his character and his devotion to his family.
For Bucsek – he wants to know why the suspects were even staying in the hotel to begin with.
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“How did they get in to the hotel?” It was paid for by who? He inquired. “How did these bad guys manage to get a room, when it was most likely sold out by June 1,?”
Bucsek and Noral Jemali, his wife, claimed they paid $630 for two nights at the hotel. After the incident, their stay was refunded. Rooms can be as low as $148 on a less crowded night.
Jemali stated that she was scared of being stuck in an older hotel because of a bad experience at college orientation. She booked the Marriott once she confirmed the dates for her family weekend in April.
She stated, “I told myself once I know our parents weekend dates I had the right to book the best place in town quickly.” “Unfortunately it ended in the worst.”
Bucsek stated that if they had known beforehand that the hotel would be housing homeless people, he wouldn’t have been concerned.
“But they told me there were homeless people there who were also suspects in a crime last month, there was no way,” he stated. “There is no way that I would have stayed at the hotel.”
Multiple Fox News Digital requests to Marriott for comment have been ignored by Marriott
Fox News’ Stephanie Pagones, Rebecca Rosenberg and Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
