Emergency Operations Center Dedicated to Slain N.Y. Deputy
What to know
• Onondaga County dedicated its emergency operations center in Liverpool to Lt. Michael “Hooch” Hoosock, a sheriff’s deputy fatally shot during a 2024 standoff that also killed a Syracuse police officer.
• County leaders, public safety personnel and Hoosock’s family honored his multi-role service as a deputy, firefighter, EMT and paramedic, calling him uniquely suited for the building now bearing his name.
• Officials described Hoosock as a committed public servant whose influence spanned law enforcement and fire service.
LIVERPOOL, NY — Onondaga County officials gathered Sunday to dedicate the county’s Emergency Operations Center to Lt. Michael “Hooch” Hoosock, a sheriff’s deputy killed in the line of duty last year.
The building at 420 Electronics Parkway will now be known as the Lieutenant Michael Hoosock Emergency Management Center, honoring the 37-year-old deputy who was fatally shot during a standoff in Salina on April 14, 2024.
Hoosock was killed by a gunman who also fatally shot Syracuse police Officer Michael Jensen before being killed by police. The two fallen officers have since been memorialized through the naming of community centers, highways and monuments.
Sunday’s ceremony drew Hoosock’s family, county leaders and dozens of law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel who crowded the building to pay tribute.
Emergency Management Commissioner Dan Wears opened the ceremony, calling Hoosock “more than a dedicated officer,” but a man who “answered the call wherever there was a need.” Wears said Hoosock’s work as a police officer, firefighter and EMT made him uniquely suited for the building being dedicated in his name — a place where all branches of public safety coordinate and train.
“His service tied all disciplines of public safety together,” Wears said. “There is no one more fitting of this honor.”
County Executive Ryan McMahon echoed that sentiment, describing Hoosock as an all-star in public safety with credentials that spanned nearly every corner of emergency response. Few people, he said, have ever served in so many roles.
“He answered the call that day because that’s who he was,” McMahon said. “He was loyal to his God, loyal to his country, loyal to his community — and he loved his family.”
Sheriff Toby Shelley said the hardest part of speaking was looking at Hoosock’s children and knowing “Hooch isn’t with us.” He praised Hoosock’s ability to wear “a lot of hats” — deputy, firefighter, paramedic — and said it was fitting that those who train in the building will now do so under Hoosock’s name.
Moyers Corners Fire Chief Michael Brown shared stories from Hoosock’s fire service career, describing a firefighter with exceptional drive, leadership and humor. Hoosock began his fire service in 2007 with Lyncourt Fire Department before joining Moyers Corners, where he rose through the ranks to deputy chief. He simultaneously worked as a paramedic and later pursued law enforcement, all while volunteering in the fire service.
Brown said Hoosock also had an impact on younger firefighters and had a reputation for leveling the mood during stressful incidents.
He recalled a prank Hoosock once orchestrated, planting dozens of discarded Christmas trees in his captain’s yard. “He was the guy everyone liked, and you gravitated to him.”
The ceremony concluded with Hoosock’s family joining county officials outside to unveil the building’s new sign.
“This building will stand as a beacon of his courage, compassion and unwavering commitment to Onondaga County,” Wears said.
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