On Christmas eve 2021, police responded to reports of a domestic stabbing at 203 Mers Way in Dolgeville, Herkimer County. The caller, Dobson's mother, lived with her brother and his wife in a house at the end of a long private road, with Dobson residing several hundred yards from the house. After the assault, Dobson fled to his camping trailer.

When police arrived, they said he refused to come outside to talk and then made suicidal and other statements "including that he wanted to kill himself, and that he was having out of body experiences."

Officers who had gone to the house confirmed to officers at the trailer that Dobson's mother had been injured by him.

At one point, while officers at the trailer were trying to coax Dobson out, he asked them to give him a generator, on the ground outside the trailer, so he could “blow himself up.” According to court documents, police placed the generator outside the trailer door and told Dobson it was there. When he opened the trailer door an officer deployed his Taser, but it had no effect. The officer deployed his Taser again, still without effect, causing Dobson to charge out of the trailer wielding a sword and a knife. As he ran at the officer who had tased him, the trooper fired his gun, hitting Dobson twice, killing him.