Long Island Man Charged With Attempted Murder After Shooting Neighbor in Delaware County

A quiet rural road in Meredith, NY became the scene of a violent neighbor dispute that left one man hospitalized and another facing serious felony charges.

When a neighbor dispute on a rural Delaware County road turned violent on the afternoon of June 10, 2026, it set off a chain of events that left a 57-year-old man fighting for care at Albany Medical Center and a 26-year-old Long Island transplant facing charges that could put him behind bars for decades. What happened on Houghtaling Hollow Road is not just a local crime story. It is a stark reminder of how quickly unresolved tensions, easy access to firearms, and unchecked behavior can shatter the peace of upstate New York communities.

A Dispute That Turned Deadly

According to the New York State Police, Ryan H. Gregory, 26, of Coram, New York, was arrested on the evening of June 10, 2026, following a confrontation with a neighbor on Houghtaling Hollow Road in the town of Meredith, located in Delaware County.

The incident began around 2:00 p.m. During the dispute, Gregory allegedly opened fire, shooting the 57-year-old victim as well as two unoccupied vehicles parked nearby. The victim, a Meredith resident, sustained non-life threatening injuries and drove himself to A.O. Fox Hospital in the city of Oneonta. He was later transferred to Albany Medical Center for further treatment.

When troopers arrived and located Gregory at his residence on the same road, they found him in possession of firearms. He refused all commands to surrender.

Hours of Tension: The Standoff

What followed was a tense, hours-long standoff that kept law enforcement on edge well into the evening. Investigators and members of the New York State Police Crisis Negotiation Unit worked to peacefully resolve the situation. Their efforts paid off.

At approximately 9:00 p.m., roughly seven hours after the initial shooting, Gregory surrendered without incident. He was transported to State Police barracks in Oneonta where he was processed and charged.

Troopers were assisted by the Oneonta City Police Department and the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office. State Police also credited the numerous fire departments and EMS members who remained on standby throughout the ordeal.

The Charges

Gregory now faces two serious felony charges:

• Attempted Murder in the 2nd Degree (Class B Felony)

• Criminal Use of a Firearm in the 1st Degree (Class B Felony)

He was transported to the Delaware County Jail for centralized arraignment. Authorities noted that additional charges are likely as the investigation continues.

Class B felonies in New York carry potential sentences of up to 25 years in state prison.

Warning Signs That Went Unheeded

Perhaps the most troubling detail to emerge from this case comes from a neighbor, Larry Bennett, who told the Albany Times-Union that Gregory had only moved into the area approximately one month before the shooting. According to Bennett, who said he lived about a quarter-mile from the scene, Gregory had been firing his weapons erratically from the start.

“He immediately started firing his guns at all times of the day. He wasn’t target shooting. He was just blasting away, firing them as fast as he could.”

That testimony raises urgent questions: Were those warning signs reported? Were authorities ever called before the shooting occurred? And if complaints were made, why was no intervention taken before a man ended up in the hospital?

These are the kinds of questions communities across upstate New York deserve answers to.

Why This Matters to Upstate New York

Meredith is a small town in Delaware County, part of the broader Catskill region that stretches across New York’s Southern Tier. While it sits south of the Mohawk Valley, it is part of the same rural upstate fabric that readers of the Utica Phoenix know well.

Rural communities in upstate New York often face unique challenges when it comes to public safety. Distances between neighbors and emergency services are greater. Response times can be longer. And the cultural normalization of firearms in many rural areas can make it harder to identify and address dangerous behavior before it escalates.

This case is a reminder that the warning signs were reportedly visible for a month before anyone was shot. A man described as firing weapons “as fast as he could” at all hours of the day was allowed to continue without apparent intervention. That is a community safety failure, regardless of where in New York it happens.

What Happens Next

Gregory awaits arraignment in the Delaware County justice system. Additional charges are expected, and the investigation by the New York State Police remains active. The victim’s condition has not been further detailed beyond the initial non-life threatening assessment, though his transfer to Albany Medical Center signals the seriousness of his injuries required specialized care.

The New York State Police Troop C, headquartered in Sidney, NY, is leading the investigation. The public information officer for Troop C is Trooper Aga Tinker, and the Troop C Commander is Major Lucas M. Shuta.

The Bigger Picture: Guns, Neighbors, and Rural Safety

Stories like this one do not unfold in a vacuum. Across upstate New York, rural residents are grappling with questions about what happens when someone with access to firearms and a short fuse moves into a tight-knit community. While the right to bear arms remains protected under the Constitution, the behavior described by neighbors in this case goes far beyond responsible gun ownership.

New York State has some of the nation’s strongest gun laws, but those laws only work when warning signs are reported and when agencies have the tools and resources to respond. Community members who see concerning behavior have a responsibility to report it. And law enforcement agencies must have clear protocols for investigating those reports before someone ends up in an emergency room.

The New York State Police Crisis Negotiation Unit performed its job with remarkable professionalism, bringing a volatile situation to a peaceful conclusion after hours of patient, skilled work. That outcome could have been far worse.

Standing Watch

A man is recovering at Albany Medical Center. A 26-year-old faces decades in prison. A small Delaware County community is left shaken. And a neighborhood that apparently raised alarms for a month before this moment is left to wonder what might have been done sooner.

The residents of upstate New York deserve safe communities, whether they live in Utica, Oneonta, or on a quiet country road in Meredith. That safety depends on all of us, neighbors, law enforcement, and elected officials, paying attention when the warning signs appear.

If you see something, say something. And demand that the systems in place actually respond when you do.