As Onondaga County officials investigated a report that a county maintenance worker found a noose in his locker Tuesday, County Executive Joanie Mahoney condemned the episode and promised to prosecute whoever did it.

"While we very much deplore what has happened, we are going to do everything we can to make sure that this kind of incident doesn't happen again," Mahoney said at a news conference Wednesday to announce the investigation.

Neither Mahoney nor sheriff'* Police Chief Thomas Tubbert identified the victim, but described him as a black male maintenance worker employed five years by the Facilities Management Department....