NEWBURGH – Mayor Torrance Harvey is taking the shooting death of Cherod Gayle, 20, of Newburgh early Saturday morning very hard as he said the 20-year-old former Newburgh Free Academy basketball “star” was “like a nephew to me.”
The mayor of Newburgh called Gayle, whose nickname was “Rod,” a “hometown hero athlete.” He was a 2018 graduate of NFA and has recently become a father, Harvey said.
The mayor said the city is working on programs to bring people together peacefully.
“We are hoping and praying that we can make sure that whatever these streets are feeling, that we can talk things out and have these young people communicate with words as opposed to resolving these matters with violence,” Harvey said. “We want peace in the streets, man.”
Two other men were shot and wounded around the same time in Newburgh and city police continue to investigate the circumstances.
