JAMESTOWN — At the very moment Gov. Andrew Cuomo was holding a press conference Tuesday to declare a gun violence emergency in New York state, a man took aim at a silver sport utility vehicle in Jamestown and fired four times.

No one was injured in the shooting, and police are still seeking information leading to his identification. Jamestown Police Chief Timothy Jackson said local gun-related offenses are “not inconsistent with the trends discussed nationwide.”

The numbers so far this year agree.

According to citywide statistics, there have been 32 gun-related offenses from Jan. 1 to June 30. During the same span in 2020, there were 18 such offenses in Jamestown.

For all of last year there were 44 cases.

According to Jackson, a firearms-related offense is tied to criminal possession of a weapon, along with crimes were a firearm was used or displayed in the commission of a crime. “For example,” Jackson said, “menacing an individual with a firearm or threatening an individual with a firearm during the commission (of a) robbery. These cases were gathered based on firearms including pistols, revolvers, shotguns, or rifles.”

The police chief did note that not all offenses end up involving a firearm once they are thoroughly investigated. “A victim may report the suspect displayed what the victim thought was a handgun, but it could have actually been a pellet gun,” he said. “However, without recovery of the actual device, the Jamestown Police Department may not have evidence to confirm it was a firearm.”

The most notable gun-related incident this year occurred Feb. 26 when a 43-year-old Jamestown man was shot and killed at his Peach Street home. Officers were alerted to the shooting at 12:06 a.m., and upon arrival, located a man at the side of the residence. The victim was rushed to UPMC Chautauqua but was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.

The latest occurred Tuesday when surveillance video captured a man wearing black clothing firing several rounds at an SUV on Center and Chandler streets. “Investigators are following up on several leads and have also recovered several pieces of evidence from this scene that are scheduled to be examined by a forensic lab,” JPD said in a news release. The Jamestown office of the FBI is also assisting in the investigation.

Through the end of the June, Jackson said the city is currently at 72.7% of the total 2020 of cases associated with firearms.

Cuomo on Tuesday declared gun violence a “disaster emergency” and noted that the state would start tracking hotspots of shootings. He said declaring the emergency — the first of its kind in the country — will make it easier to spend money on efforts to address and reduce gun violence.

The governor said he’s launching an office on gun violence prevention to collect data from the state’s major police departments; a new Governor’s Council on Gun Violence Reduction also will come up with recommendations to address gun violence.

Cuomo also signed legislation this week that will allow New York to sue gun manufacturers over harm caused by their products. The new law comes at a time when New York City in particular is facing a rise in shootings. Overall, violence is well short of the historic highs of the 1990s, or even in the New York of the early 2000s.

But the Democratic-led Legislature has pushed to pass several gun control measures this year, including legislation that would prohibit the sale, purchase or transfer of firearms to anyone with an outstanding warrant for a felony or serious offense.

The federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005 gave gun manufacturers immunity from lawsuits related to the criminal misuse of their products. Supporters of New York’s bill argue that gun manufacturers can still be held liable if they violate other laws concerning the sale or marketing of firearms.