TROY – Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney has been named the special prosecutor for the investigation of the Aug. 15 shooting of a parole absconder by a Troy police officer.

Rensselaer County Court Judge Debra Young appointed Carney after consulting with the Third Judicial District administration and speaking to Carney. Schenectady County is located in the Fourth Judicial District. Special prosecutors normally are drawn from within the same district as the case to be investigated.

Young made the appointment after Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove asked to recuse himself due to a conflict of interest.

Carney will lead the “investigation into the August 15, 2017 shooting of Dahmeek McDonald by Troy Police Officer Jarrod Iler,” according to an order Young signed Monday.

Carney said Tuesday he doesn’t know any details about the shooting except what the media has reported about the events of the evening of Aug. 15 near the intersection of Eighth and Rensselaer streets in the North Central neighborhood. Carney said he would have Assistant District Attorney Amy Burrock, chief of his major crimes unit, handle the investigation into the Troy shooting.

Troy police have been investigating the shooting with the assistance of the FBI. Troy police had initially declined to say whether McDonald was armed, but later said a firearm was not recovered from the scene of the shooting. In certain circumstances, a vehicle may be considered a weapon. Iler allegedly wounded McDonald twice. McDonald was in an automobile when he was stopped by police. Three other officers were at the scene but did not fire their service weapons.

Abelove said Aug. 30 he would ask the court to replace him due to the number of the cases his office is prosecuting that involve Iler. Community leaders and McDonald’s attorney, Mark S. Mishler, had called on Abelove to step aside in this shooting investigation.

Mishler had said the state Attorney General's ongoing investigation of Abelove's handling of a fatal April 16 shooting by Troy Sgt. Randall French created issues about the district attorney's impartiality. Edson Thevenin died in that shooting incident.

McDonald had been wanted as a parole absconder by the state Department of Corrections and Community Service since April.

Carney becomes the second district attorney to be named as a special prosecutor in cases involving the Troy police. Columbia County District Attorney Paul Czajka is investigating the release of a recording of a 911 emergency call that was held in the detective bureau in 2015. Czajka also is leading an investigation into the police drug unit for attempting to cover up a warrantless search.

A Rensselaer County grand jury has been empaneled for the cases Czajka is overseeing.