NEWBURGH – Several dozen Newburgh residents, carrying signs saying “Black Lives Matter” and chanting “Justice for Tyrell,” marched from the William Street area where 26-year-old Tyrell Fincher a/k/a “Rex” was shot and killed by police Friday evening to the Newburgh City Police Headquarters where Chief Douglas Solomon met with them.
Authorities said Fincher was wanted in connection with a crime the night before and as they approached him, he pulled out a gun and fired it. Officers shot back killing him. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office and State Police are investigating the incident.
Those who marched on Sunday, including Fincher’s sister, engaged in an emotional dialogue with Solomon.
One woman said, “You can’t sit here and justify Tyrell had a gun,” she said. “The meaning of the police approaching him was because he was a suspect who was supposedly armed and dangerous for the night before shooting. They should know how to approach a person in that matter. They went to academy school to know that,” she said. Chief Solomon responded, “You bring up questions that obviously need to be answered. Specific questions about how he got approached, why he got approached, and the manner he got approached; that’s all going to come out in the DA’s investigation and that is going to take time,” he said.
On Saturday, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler released a portion of police body camera video which showed Fincher had a silver handgun and struggled with officers before he was killed. One officer was wounded in the shoulder during the incident.
(c) Mid-Hudson News Network
