Tension between Newburgh Police and the people is escalating at the worst possible time.

"This is the worst weekend I've ever had since being a public official," Mayor Torrance Harvey said of recent rioting and protests during an interview via teleconference on Monday.

The stress-filled weekend began at just after 5 p.m. Friday, as news spread that Tyrell Fincher, 26, was shot and killed during a confrontation with police on William Street. Hours later, a riot broke out on Carpenter Street, as several people did not believe police were justified in killing Fincher.

At-Large Councilman Omari Shakur said witnesses told him Fincher was unarmed when police tried to question him about a shooting on Thursday.

Then Shakur repeated their claims on social media.

"An unarmed black man killed in Newburgh," he said in livestream. "...These are killers in our community."

On Saturday, District Attorney David Hoovler released a portion of an officer's body-camera video to address rumors that Fincher was unarmed. In the video clip, Fincher appears to have a gun in his right hand. Hoovler said Fincher shot first, and police had to shoot back.

The video clip's release did not fully quell skepticism in the community.

On Sunday a group of at least 50 people marched to the police department to demand the release of all unedited videos from body-cameras of every officer who was present during Friday's confrontation with Fincher.

Mayor Harvey told Spectrum News he was disappointed with Councilman Shakur's spreading of rumors, and with people who chose to assemble in the streets during the Coronavirus outbreak.

"We know we haven't hit the peak period of COVID-19," he said. "You might survive the virus, but you might be a carrier who passes it on to a family [member] or a friend and they may not have a strong immune system."

Hoovler said he is conducting two investigations into Friday's shooting: one that involves the grand jury and another being conducted solely by Hoovler's office.

He said the latter mentioned probe should last three to five months, and that he will issue a full report when it is completed.

When asked whether people should be assembling in the streets during the outbreak, Shakur said he "wouldn't recommend it," but that he promoted Sunday's protest on Facebook "because I support our residents."