Updated 03/28/2012 11:03 AM
State denies special investigation in Michael Lembhard shooting
The Governor's office makes a ruling against investigating an officer involved shooting in Newburgh. Many people were petition begging the state to look into the incident. YNN's Elaina Athans has more on the decision.
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
NEWBURGH, N.Y. -- A family angered by one decision. The Governor's office ruled there will be no special investigation into the death of Michael Lembhard. The state says one is done only in rare incidents. Lembhard's family was looking for someone far away from the area to review the case, saying there's too much cronyism here.
"We don’t want anybody from the City of Newburgh because they all know about this. They’ll all be on the cops’ side. We want somebody from the outside," said Lembhard's aunt, Edith King
Earlier this month, Lembhard was shot and killed by city officers. Police say the Newburgh man came at cops with a knife and the officers' actions were justified. His mother feels differently.
Arlene Lembhard said, "They murdered my son. The cops murdered my son."
Since Lembhard was killed, his family holds a rally everyday at 3 o’clock outside City Hall. Members say they’re sending a message to city officials and they’re now adding the governor to the list.
"There’s trying to push this under the bed and we’re not going to let them," said King.
There are a couple large scale events in the works following this decision. Some community groups are banding together and hosting a forum this Thursday. That starts at 6 p.m. at the House of Refuge. Then Saturday afternoon, Lemhbard's family and others have planned a massive march through city streets. A thousand people are expected to show up.
As far as the officers go that were involved in the shooting, they're still on administrative leave.