By Robert Harding
The Citizen, Auburn, N.Y.
NEW YORK — David McShane, a retired state Department of Environmental Conservation police lieutenant who supervised officers in Cayuga and Onondaga counties, has died. He was 50.
McShane died of cancer linked to his service at ground zero in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. He was assigned to New York City to assist with search and recovery efforts, according to the DEC.
“When America came under attack on 9/11, changing the world as we knew it and crippling us with fear, Lt. McShane put the safety of New Yorkers and his country ahead of his own,” DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said.
A 23-year veteran of the state Environmental Conservation Police, McShane graduated from basic school in February 1999. His last assignment was in Region 7, which is comprised of Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga and Tompkins counties. He supervised environmental police officers in Cayuga and Onondaga counties before his retirement in June 2022.
Matthew Krug, who serves as the environmental conservation police officers director for the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, noted that McShane had a “long and debilitating” bout with cancer. While he had a period of remission, the cancer returned and he was forced to retire.
“David McShane exemplified what it was to be an environmental conservation officer and set the bar for so many of us that followed in his path,” Krug said.
McShane was a Marcellus native — he was a 1991 graduate of Marcellus High School — and earned his bachelor’s degree at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse.
According to his obituary, McShane was a falconer who trained red-tailed hawks and loved animals, including his two dogs. He is survived by his wife, Angela, and their three children.
Calling hours have been scheduled for 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, at Buranich Funeral Home, 5431 W. Genesee St., Camillus. A funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 29, at St. Joseph’s Church, 5600 W. Genesee St., Camillus.
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