Man who gunned down his wife’s lover before killing himself is revealed as an NYPD cop

Investigators probing a suspected murder-suicide in upstate New York believe the gunman was a jealous NYPD cop who gunned down a love rival outside a bar before turning the weapon on himself.

DailyMail.com has learned that off-duty officer Sean Armstead tailed his wife and a man he suspected she was having an affair with as they drove through Wallkill, 80 miles north of New York City late on Sunday night.

Sources say he cornered the pair outside a Buffalo Wild Wings on Route 211 before chasing down the mystery ‘lover’ and shooting him dead. The crazed cop then killed himself in the same parking lot, it’s believed.

Armstead’s wife was not thought to have been harmed in the shooting that unfolded around 10:40pm. The couple’s marital $450,000 home in Port Jervis, 40 miles from Wallkill, was being guarded by multiple police cars Monday morning.

Town of Wallkill Police confirmed that an investigation was underway but are yet to release further details.

Local reports suggest the incident began with a search for a shooting suspect but soon transitioned into a murder inquiry as two bodies were covered over with tarps.

It’s believed multiple agencies, including the New York state Police and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office are assisting the probe and that the NYPD has been briefed on the double fatality.

Online records state Armstead has been a cop for 11 years and was on a salary of $105,000.

The veteran officer, in his mid-30s, racked up five complaints involving his use of physical force and alleged abuse of authority but none were upheld, according to publicly available disciplinary records.

Armstead also made the news in June 2016 when he was mugged while walking his dog in Harlem. The off-duty cop was punched and beaten by four men who fled with his wallet and NYPD identification card.

Wallkill Police first received calls about a shooting outside the Buffalo Wild Wings on Route 211 at around 10.30pm Sunday night, according to Mid Hudson News, and officers from the New York State Police, the City of Middletown and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

One witness apparently told officers that a possible suspect, described as a black male wearing black clothing fled the scene in a Dodge Charger.

But when state troopers pulled over a vehicle moments later matching the description, they determined that the driver was not a suspect, but rather a witness who fled the scene when shots rang out.

Police were also seen examining another Dodge Charger that appeared to have collided with a sedan, the Mid Hudson News reports, and one witness told officers that the shooting occurred after a road rage incident.

Sources say he cornered the pair outside a Buffalo Wild Wings on Route 211 before chasing down the mystery ‘lover’ and shooting him dead

Gary DeYoung, who was staying at the La Quinta Inn and Suites nearby, said he was walking his dog when he heard the crash.

‘Then one guy jumps out, comes over here and starts shooting away,’ DeYoung told News 12 Hudson Valley. ‘And I was like “whoa.” I called 911.

‘By that time, there were two deceased on the ground here in the parking lot.’

He said he heard shots from two different weapons, and shell casings were seen strewn about the parking lot the next day. 

After a short investigation Sunday night, the Mid Hudson News reports, a dispatcher advised all units on the scene that there was no longer a search for the suspect, and EMS units were cleared to respond to any injured victims at the scene.