The New York Attorney General's Office said Tuesday it has launched an independent review after a 17-year-old was fatally shot by police in Wappingers Falls in the early morning hours of Saturday. Officials have identified the teen as Oscar Granados Colindres and say officers exchanged gunfire on the bridge over Wappinger Creek near East Main and Market streets. The death has left the village grieving and prompted family members to demand the release of body-camera footage as state investigators take over the case.
Attorney General opens OSI assessment
In a June 30 press release, the Attorney General’s Office said its Office of Special Investigation is assessing the encounter and laid out preliminary facts, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The release says New York State Police troopers, deputies from the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office and village officers responded to a 911 call reporting a suicidal person, found Colindres standing on the ledge of an overpass with a knife, attempted to speak with him for about 50 minutes, then say he ran toward at least one officer while still holding the knife, at which point multiple officers fired and he was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Local agencies confirm scene
The Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office posted a brief notice saying its investigators are handling an officer-involved shooting that occurred in the area of East Main Street and Market Street and that there is no active threat to the public, according to the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office. The statement said the Sheriff's Office was assisted at the scene by the New York State Police, the Village of Wappingers Falls Police Department and the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department.
Conflicting details remain
Local reporting has filled in details the AG release did not. The Times Union reported a law-enforcement source saying the teen was being questioned by a State Police investigator in connection with an alleged sexual-assault probe before the shooting, an account the AG’s preliminary statement does not reference, according to the Times Union. Early news releases from responding departments were sparse, and village police said it would be inappropriate to comment further while the state review is underway.
Family asks to see body-cam footage
Friends and relatives have left flowers at a makeshift memorial on the bridge and are publicly pushing to see officer body-camera video so they can understand what happened, as reported by News 12. The teen was identified in school and community notices as a former Roy C. Ketcham High School student, and the district said it has activated emergency response supports for students, per reporting by Daily Voice.
How the AG review works
Under New York’s Executive Law Section 70‑b, the Attorney General’s Office assesses every incident in which a police officer may have caused a civilian’s death and proceeds to a full investigation if the preliminary assessment indicates an officer may have caused the death, the AG said in its statement, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The office also noted the facts it released are preliminary and subject to change as OSI collects evidence and interviews witnesses.
What’s next and funeral plans
The family has scheduled visitation on July 5 and a funeral service on July 6 at McHoul Funeral Home of Fishkill, according to the online obituary and memorial page maintained by Legacy. Officials have said more information will be released when investigators are able to do so, and the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office has directed immediate press matters to the Attorney General’s Office while the review continues.
