More shots fired Tuesday as Newburgh struggles to keep students safe

Police report that two shots were fired shortly before 6 a.m. on Carpenter Avenue.

News 12 Staff

Nov 23, 2021, 12:19 PM

Updated 1,124 days ago

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Schools in the Newburgh district remained open for both in-person learning and remote learning Tuesday amid another nearby shooting.
Police report that two shots were fired shortly before 6 a.m. on Carpenter Avenue. No injuries were reported. 
This follows numerous shootings near schools over the past week. On Monday, there were two more reports on Lander and Wrenwyck streets.
Those shootings came as high school kids got ready to return to school for the first time since last week's shootings shut them down.
Monday's shootings put high school campuses on a temporary "hold in place" --and canceled all after school activities.
They also prompted officials to offer a remote learning option for Tuesday only. District officials sent emails home that stressed that all schools would remain open with stepped up security Tuesday and with law enforcement on site, especially during arrival and dismissal times.
In an email that was sent to parents Tuesday afternoon, the district says Wednesday will still be a half-day as scheduled and that all schools will be open if families wish to send their students in for in-person learning. The district will also offer students in all grade levels the option of a virtual learning model for Wednesday. Parent-teacher conferences will continue virtually as scheduled.  
Back-to-back news conferences about plans to curb the crime surge haven't helped, and the community remains on edge following the shootings.
On Facebook, community members are criticizing local officials and zeroing in on their social media accounts, which seemingly shows little to no mention of the crisis.
"We actually secured the funding in 2016, the initial funding, for the ShotSpotter technology that actually pinpointed those shootings because that technology is now a key part of the solution," says Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney.
Maloney said Tuesday that his social media is not a reflection of his commitment to addressing gun violence.
Mayor Torrance Harvey posted six times on Monday about his autographed book sale.
News 12 asked him what he's doing about the crisis by phone, and he said he authorized the "Safe Streets Task Force" to lead the surge in crime adding, "Parents, families, young people, organizations {…} the school district, social services ALL must work collaboratively to resolve these matters together!"
Sen. James Skoufis says he's been in direct communication with city law enforcement and secured $200,000 last week to support Newburgh's emergency services.