Call For Peace Following Police Involved Shooting

GOSHEN – Newburgh Mayor Torrance Harvey, city and Orange County law enforcement, Saturday, called for calm in the wake of the police involved fatal shooting of an armed suspect and the wounding of a police officer Friday evening.

District Attorney David Hoovler released a portion of police body-camera video of the incident that showed the individual pull a silver gun and fire it as officers attempting to subdue him. Officers opened fire killing the man and one officer was shot in the shoulder.
“We need peace in the streets, we need calm,” Harvey said. He asked the DA to release some of the body-cam video for transparency and to point to facts in the case, specifically that the suspect, who was wanted for questioning in an incident the night before, was armed.

Hoovler said information that was placed on social media after the incident by a city councilperson was not true. He did not name Councilman Omari Shakur, but it was he who took to Facebook saying that an unarmed black man had been shot and he called police “killers” and “pigs.”

In an emotional plea to the residents of the city during a Saturday news conference, Sheriff Carl DuBois called for calm in the streets and said the late mayors Judy Kennedy and Mary Crabb would not have condoned the violence.

He said if violence erupts, “we are the last resort. Don’t let it come to that.”

Newburgh Police Chief Douglas Solomon said police do, “an extraordinary job under very difficult circumstances” and he praised DA Hoovler’s “very proactive” approach to the investigation.

County Executive Steven Neuhaus said the incident and what followed with people rioting in the streets Friday night, setting fires and throwing rocks and bottles at the police, was not needed, especially since the city, nation and world are in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Hoovler said the State Police and his office will be investigating the shooting. A grand jury will review the incident and determine if the police shooting was justified. At the same time, his office will investigate the entire situation and release a full report at its conclusion, which he said would be in about four to six months.