Haverstraw funeral home director shot dead, remembered as always pleasant

HAVERSTRAW – A popular village funeral home director was killed on Thursday by a former colleague behind the parlor, where a third person shot the suspect, officials said.

Haverstraw village Mayor Michael Kohut said he knew the victim, Noah Hamer, general manager of T.J. McGowan Sons Funeral Home, from attending many services in one of the village's two funeral homes.

He said Hamer was always pleasant.

“Everybody I know only had good words to say about Noah,” Kohut said.

The shooting scene unfolded at McGowan Sons' funeral home at 133 Broadway around 6:25 p.m. in the village.

A dispute between the two men escalated into a fatal shooting in the back parking lot, Haverstraw town officials said.

A third person who was in the funeral home heard the altercation, went outside and shot the suspected killer in the shoulder, officials said.

The suspected killer was then hit with a Taser by Haverstraw police, who said the man ignored numerous commands from officers to drop his handgun.

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The suspect, who had not been identified by police, was taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, police said. The man who shot him also had not been identified.

Penelope Martinez, who lives on Union Street near the site of the shooting, heard what sounded like three shots, and then heard what turned out to be police officers yelling, 'Put down the gun, Jerry, put down the gun.' "

Martinez, 23, said one of the officers yelled: "I don't want to shoot you."

Kohut said unfortunately the reality is that workplace violence can happen anywhere.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Haverstraw, Beverly Hills, Chicago or elsewhere,” Kohut said, “it’s never good. It’s a product of our times.”

Hamer, known as "Noe," lived in New York City but was active in the local community, including the Haverstraw Elks, according to the funeral home's website. His parents are of Mexican descent and he was bilingual and active with the Latin American Catholic Society.

In a video on the McGowan website, Hamer discusses how he and his staff take "a very hard, sad moment in people’s lives and transition it to a memory, a beautiful memory that they have for a very long time. ... A great day for me, and for us is at the end of a funeral service when we took a family that came here with a very sad moment and we turned it around."

This morning, a security guard was stationed outside the funeral home to protect the privacy of families coming in and out of the brick building. No funerals were being held there today but it was open for families coming in to plan services.

"I think it’s a sad morning for everyone here," said Nemi Rodriguez, whose security firm was hired after last night's shooting. "Maybe people are in a state of disbelief."

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MAP: Funeral home shooting

T.J. McGowan has been in the village since its founding by Thomas J. McGowan in 1879. The family opened a second Haverstraw location in Garnerville in 1998, according to the funeral home's website.

The fatal shooting came four days after a 24-year-old man was shot on Church Street in Haverstraw town, Police provided scant details other than they are investigating and the man was taken to Westchester Medical Center with non-life-threatening wounds. No arrests has been made

In mid-December, two men were shot outside 25 E. Railroad Ave. in Haverstraw town, police said. No arrests have been made.

Thursday's shooting marked Rockland's third homicide of 2020, after five in 2019.

Twitter: @MattSpillane