Clymer, NY (WIBX) - The death of former Sherburne-Earlville High School principal, Keith Reed, has been ruled a homicide, according to the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff Joseph Gerace talks about the incident.

"We received a missing person complaint from friends and colleagues of his on Sunday night," Gerace said. "Deputies responded to his residence, where the people that called it in were at the time. They searched the area with negative results. On Monday morning, one of my canine deputies went to the scene and found the victim."

Gerace says Reed was found outside his home with multiple gunshot wounds. Deputies are working with the State Police and the local FBI to investigate the shooting and follow leads.

In the meantime, both S-E and Clymer students have shown an outpouring of support for Reed, who was also involved in a near-fatal motorcycle crash in August 2008.

Seth Mullenax, a 2009 graduate of Sherburne-Earlville says he was close to Reed, who would call him once a month to see how he was doing.

"Just recently I got engaged, and he called me that night wanting to congratulate me personally and not over Facebook," Mullenax said. "He told me how proud he was of me, and that if he ever needed to do anything for me, to let him know."

Mullenax called Reed a mentor, saying he was an authority figure when he needed to be, but outside of school was a friend who cared about students.

"He was always there being positive, providing reinforcement when a lot of people in the area don't have that," Mullenax said. "They come home and their parents don't care and the people they're living with don't care; he was always that person you could look to and know that he understood what was going on. If you had a bad day, he was always there to make it better."

A Facebook page memorializing Reed has been established, and in the past 24 hours has already surpassed more than 2,000 members.

More information into Reed's death will be released as the investigation continues. A suspect has yet to be named.

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