Falls man to be charged in fatal workplace shooting
Jun. 4—A Falls man is expected to be charged Friday with murder and weapons counts in the slaying of a co-worker at the Niagara Metals scrap yard Thursday morning.
Prosecutors are expected to charge Matthew H. Figura Jr., 35, with second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon during a virtual appearance in Falls City Court.
Figura was undergoing questioning by Falls Police detectives early Thursday evening in an effort to find a motive for the murder. Investigators privately called the killing "senseless" and suggested "mental health issues" may have played a role in the tragedy.
Patrol officers first responded to a report of "a man shot" at 8:16 a.m. at the recycling business in the 4800 block of Packard Road. When they arrived, they found the body of an employee of the business who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Company president Todd Levin told WGRZ that he had been shot in the back of the head.
The man was declared dead at the scene. Police have not yet revealed his identity, but have indicated that he had been employed at the business for "awhile."
Criminal Investigation Division detectives immediately put out an attempt to locate order for Figura, who was also an employee of the scrap yard. Witnesses indicated that Figura had fled from the yard in a black Nissan Frontier with Virginia license plates.
Investigators said they believed that Figura may have been headed to the Southern Tier or attempting to reach Pennsylvania. They said they believed he was "armed and dangerous."
Detectives also said Figura could have been heading to other parts of Niagara County including Ransomville, Cambria, Lewiston, and Lockport.
Just before 1:30 p.m., Wyoming County Sheriff's deputies said they had located Figura and had taken him into custody.
According to Niagara County District Attorney Brian Seaman, the suspect was apprehended in the Town of Sardinia but no further details were made available on the arrest or if he offered any resistance to deputies.
By late Thursday afternoon, Figura had been returned to the Falls.
At a Thursday afternoon press event in the Falls, Mayor Robert Restaino told reporters, "I don't know if it was workplace violence — I don't know if it was a personal matter and that's what I'm hoping we find out more about once conversations start going on with the individual that has been apprehended. That's the part that right now continues to be the blind spot — what did create this circumstance that resulted in this incident and I don't have a direct answer to that yet."
