KINGSTON – An Ulster County grand jury found insufficient evidence to file criminal charges in connection with a shooting death of a man who is said to have gone berserk and stabbed three people in the Town of Plattekill back on June 27.
The incident occurred on Crescent Avenue in a private home at about 7:15
p.m. after police received several 911 calls of people inside being stabbed.
When officers arrived, they found Rodshan Pittman, 25, dead from a shotgun
wound to the chest.
Three people inside had each been stabbed several times and required hospitalization. One woman was in the hospital over two weeks with significant, potentially fatal, stomach wounds.
Police investigation revealed Pittman, who knew each of the stabbing victims, “went berserk” and, unprovoked, attacked his three friends with a steak knife.
While a male victim struggled with Pittman, the females fled to a neighboring
apartment with an infant.
Pitman, of Highland, brandished the knife and tried to gain access to the neighbor’s apartment and was shot at close range with a legally possessed shotgun. The DA’s office did not identify the shooter.
The autopsy revealed Pittman had ingested PCP and synthetic marijuana
before his death. A small amount of the synthetic pot was found on him
when police arrived.
Under New York State law, a person may use deadly force on another person when he believes it to be necessary to defend himself or someone else from what he reasonably believes to be the use of deadly physically force by that individual.
District Attorney Holly Carnright said “it appeared that the shooting was legally justified and no one was charged at the time of the incident but I felt the appropriate path would be to present all of the facts to an independent investigative body such as a grand jury to determine whether criminal charges should be charged regarding the shooting.”
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