Easter murder bookended two other gun incidents
This is the second gun-related incident to take place in New Paltz during the past two weeks, with the first one taking place on the SUNY campus on April 14.
Nearby Gardiner also had a recent high-profile gun incident on April 11, when a man was arrested for allegedly firing a gun off his front porch at neighbors.
In the April 14 incident in New Paltz, a Brooklyn man visiting his student girlfriend at SUNY New Paltz was arrested on campus by university police in connection with menacing two students with a handgun. University police officers apprehended the suspect quickly in his girlfriend’s residence hall room. He was remanded to Ulster County Jail on a $50,000 cash, $100,000 bail bond.
Marquis Bernard, 19, was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment, a felony; unlawful possession of a weapon on school grounds, a felony; and second-degree menacing, a misdemeanor. Both Bernard and another Brooklyn man, who denied knowledge of the gun or the incident and was not charged, are banned from campus.
The incident began at an off-campus party on Route 32 across the street from the college when the suspect had a fight with an off-campus student. Bernard, his girlfriend and the other man left the party, and Bernard subsequently returned to the area of the party.
It’s then he is alleged by police to have confronted a different student on the campus side of the street (on SUNY property), pointing a handgun at him. According to the cops, the victim and Bernard exchanged words.
Allegedly, Bernard pulled the trigger twice, but the weapon did not fire. Police also said that Bernard was witnessed approaching another unknown student prior to this — also on SUNY property — and also fired the weapon with no discharge.
The victim reported the incident to the resident assistant, who immediately reported it to university police. Within minutes, based on information that the victim provided, university police apprehended Bernard.
Local leaders split on shooting’s political impact
New Paltz Town Supervisor Susan Zimet first heard about last Sunday’s murder from her adult daughter, who was home from Massachusetts for the holidays and out for a night on the town.
“She was downtown at Bacchus and P&G’s. She went out onto the street to go to the ATM machine. She saw all of the police cars,” the supervisor said. “That’s how I found out. She came home and said to me, ‘Mommy, there was a shooting downtown.’”
Zimet expressed her deepest sympathies for the families of the victims.
“Your heart goes out to any parent who loses a child. It’s a worst nightmare of a parent. What can you say?” she said. “It’s horrible.”
Mayor Jason West also had kind words for Gray’s and the female shooting survivor’s loved ones.
The usual suspects, no surprises here.