On December 30, 1974, 62-year-old custodian Earl Metcalf was killed at Olean High School during a sniper attack carried out by 17-year-old Anthony F. Barbaro. The school was closed for Christmas break when Barbaro, armed with a rifle and a shotgun, went to the third floor and encountered Metcalf; Metcalf confronted him and became the first fatality of the incident.

From that vantage point on the third floor, Barbaro fired downward, wounding eleven people and killing two others: 25-year-old Carmen Wright Drayton, who was pregnant, and 58-year-old Neal J. Pilon. Local police, state troopers, and the National Guard surrounded the building; officers later entered, exposed Barbaro to tear gas, found him unconscious and took him into custody. He was arraigned on three counts of second-degree murder and multiple counts of assault and reckless endangerment, and a journal detailing plans for the shooting was found in his home. While awaiting trial, Barbaro died by suicide in jail on November 1, 1975.

Does anyone have memories of Earl Metcalf or information about his life and work at Olean High School that could add to the record?