Two female high school seniors killed last Saturday night in a mass firing during a Halloween party in Newburgh while five more wounded.
Tabitha Cruz, 20, and Omani Free, 18 were both enjoying a Halloween celebration party when a dude fired an open gunshot and started shooting few people including the two teenagers.
Omani Free, 18, who decided to join the party at the last minute, went to a Halloween party which was also attended by the other victim, Tabitha Cruz, 20. The two teenage girls attended a Halloween celebration held in one of the many apartments of an industrial building at 119 Broadway in Newburgh. Most teenagers who participated in the party were from Newburgh Free Academy.
Around 12:43 a.m., a quarrel among the partygoers broke out. Afterward, a man fired an open gunshot and started shooting everywhere, killing the two teenage girls and wounded five more. Between 13 and 15 shots were fired according to one parent in Newburgh.
"There was some dude, they were jumping somebody, I don't know his name," CBS2 quoted the witness as saying. He added, "Then another dude came out with a gun, they turned off the lights, started shooting everywhere."
The death of the two teens rocked and shocked the world of their families. Omar Free, father of Omani Free, said that it was hard for him as Omani was her oldest daughter. On the other side, Miguel Cruz, father of Tabitha, also expressed her grief over her daughter's death, saying that his world was her daughter, whom he called his baby.
Omani, who was a high school senior student in Newburgh Free Academy, was described by her mom as a sweet girl and her chocolate baby. "She was my chocolate baby," Fox News US quoted Rhonda Valentine-Free as saying.
Being the eldest, Tabitha was described by her father as a magnanimous teen and was known and loved by everyone who knew her. The father also said that Tabitha wanted to become a veterinarian and has happily coached young cheerleaders.
For the moment, police have arrested two men who allegedly assisted the shooter immediately following the fatal gun shooting, the Hudson Valley News Network has found out. They also identified Ninja A. Johnson, 17, as the shooting suspect and wanted for second-degree murder, according to Hudson Valley News Network.
