Police: Assault Suspect Killed Himself

PERRY, N.Y. (AP) - New York state police say they've linked an assault on a 15-year-old boy to a 39-year-old man who later killed himself.

Authorities say the boy fought off his attacker after being hit from behind with a handgun while walking along a road in the Wyoming County town of Perry Monday night.

The attacker tried to handcuff the boy, who was able to gain control of the gun and fire it into the ground. The attacker then fled in a pickup.

Troopers were sent a few hours later to the nearby town of Castile for a reported suicide and found the body of Paul Richards of Silver Springs. Investigators say evidence found at the scene and at Richards' home points to him as the boy's attacker.

State police did not release additional details about Richards' death.