NEWBURGH – A Newburgh man, who was shot in the upper thigh in the latest gun violence in the City of Newburgh early Wednesday morning, has refused to talk to the police. Jamel Johnson would not even let investigators take a photo of his wound.
“Rarely a night goes by when officers do not handle shooting calls. This is a problem that permeates several areas in the city at ay give time,” said Police Chief Arnold Amthor. “The lack of cooperation routine exhibited by victims themselves does nothing to help address the problem.”
The chief said they recover “staggering numbers of guns, but the numbers of shootings do not seem to show any reductions as a result. While we take the issue of police reform seriously we must also take a good hard look at why gun violence is not give the same amount of attention by certain highly critical individuals, who claim to represent the very community that suffers routinely from this violence.”
In this latest shooting, Orange County 911 received a hang-up call from an Overlook Place address where the caller said someone was banging on the door and was bleeding.
Officers followed a blood trail in the area locating large amounts of blood and three .40 caliber spent shell casings.
No victim was located and Montefiore St Luke’s Cornwall called to say that a gunshot victim had arrived there.
