Two people are facing felony charges after New York State Police say a Wednesday afternoon shooting inside a Town of Union home left a man with facial injuries and triggered a two-day search for the suspects. The victim was shot in the face before being rushed first to a local hospital and then transferred to a trauma center in Syracuse, according to investigators.
State Police were sent to 23 Birch Street in the Town of Union around 3 p.m. that Wednesday after a man was shot during what investigators described as a dispute at the residence, according to WNBF. The address sits in the Fairmont Park neighborhood, north of Watson Boulevard, and investigators closed Birch Street west of Poplar Street while they worked the scene, per the same report. The man suffered facial injuries that were described as non-life-threatening, WNBF reported, and he was first taken by ambulance to Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City before being transferred to Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.
Two Arrested After Manhunt
By Friday, investigators had identified and tracked down two suspects in connection with the shooting. According to WBNG, state police said two people have been arrested in connection to the Wednesday afternoon shooting in Endwell, naming them as 35-year-old Alexa Hinkley of Endicott and 40-year-old Omar Rush. The outlet reported that police say Rush shot the victim in the face and continued assaulting him, and that Rush entered the residence as part of the incident.
The station's report states that following a two-day search, state police located and arrested both suspects Friday. Rush now faces charges of felony assault, burglary, and robbery, while Hinkley is charged with felony robbery, the report notes. Both were taken to the Broome County Jail for arraignment, per the same account.
Hospital Transfer and Early Police Statements
In the hours after the shooting, state police did not release the wounded man's name or condition, WNBF reported, even as he was moved between facilities for treatment. He was initially taken to UHS Wilson Hospital for treatment and then transported to Upstate Medical University, according to WBNG's separate report on the arrests.
State police said in the immediate aftermath that the shooting was an isolated incident and that there was no threat to the public, according to WNBF. A brief statement posted by the New York State Police confirms that its Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Endwell arrested and charged two individuals following the shooting investigation, though the agency's posted material does not spell out the specific charges each suspect faces.
