POUGHKEEPSIE – Two employees of Nubian Directions had a new reason to celebrate Thanksgiving after both narrowly escaped death on Tuesday when caught in the middle of a shootout in a gas station parking lot. The 11 am incident on November 21 took place less than 300 feet from the City of Poughkeepsie police headquarters.
Four men were arrested following the shooting at the Mobil gas station at the corner of Washington and Mansion Streets. Three adults were arrested in connection with the shooting that almost killed the two employees. A juvenile was taken into custody on an unrelated weapons charge and remanded to a juvenile facility.
One of the survivors told Mid-Hudson News that he was returning to the company van that had been parked near the gas pump when the incident erupted. “I had just grabbed the door handle to get in and the door window exploded,” said the man. “I just hit the ground and stayed there.” The visibly shaken man was outside of his office Tuesday afternoon, thankful to be alive. “Air never smelled so good. I really thought I was going to die.”
He noted that when the gunmen were leaving the area, they fired additional shots. “Look at the windshield,” he exclaimed. “When the guys were leaving, they were still shooting and put a bullet through the windshield. If the driver had been in his seat, he would be dead right now.” The van operator had been in the station with a student when the gunfire started. Several other Nubian Directions students were seated in the van when the bullets struck.
Nubian Directions provides training and education to individuals between the ages of 16-24 through the AmeriCorps YouthBuild program.
No injuries were reported.
