Police name suspect in Halloween party shooting deaths
Anysia Manderson, left, and Amina Harris visit a makeshift memorial for those killed during a shooting at a Halloween party in Newburgh, N.Y., Monday, Oct. 31, 2016. Two were killed and several others injured in the weekend shooting. AP
NEWBURGH, N.Y. — Police have named a suspect they’re seeking in connection with a Halloween party shooting that left two women dead and five other people wounded.
The Newburgh Police Department said Monday that 17-year-old Nija Johnson is wanted on a murder charge.
Earlier, 21-year-old Rainier Hamilton and 20-year-old Tyson Oliveira were charged with tampering with physical evidence. Hamilton also was charged with criminal possession of a weapon. They were arrested Sunday hours after an early morning shooting at a costume party held in an apartment building.
Eighteen-year-old Omani Free and 20-year-old Tabitha Cruz were killed. The wounded people are expected to recover.
Hamilton and Oliveira were arraigned and ordered held on $50,000 bail each. Their lawyers couldn’t reached for comment by telephone.
Article continues after this advertisementA makeshift memorial sprouted up outside the apartment building, and friends and relatives of the victims gathered for a march and rally calling for an end to violence.
“Loving, caring, very sweet, always full of life,” Free’s mother, Rhonda Valentine-Free, told ABC-TV. “It’s sad. They just took them. They just took them away.”
