A group of professional mediators walked the streets of Newburgh Friday afternoon to try and maintain peace following the shooting of four Newburgh High School students this week, while other community leaders gathered at the fire department to explain plans for more uniformed officers on city streets.

During a press conference to announce the formation of a task force to investigate Wednesday’s after-school shooting, Newburgh Police Commissioner José Gomérez fielded challenges from some fellow community leaders who said his response to the violence lacked depth.

Commissioner José Gomérez was joined by Police Chief Anthony Geraci, District Attorney David Hoovler, Mayor Torrance Harvey and other City Council representatives in the fire truck bay to announce that other agencies, including the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, will offer increased manpower and resources.

All the speakers expressed some disappointment that some witnesses have not willingly cooperated directly with police and prosecutors.

A video shared on Facebook that city officials said includes a glimpse of Wednesday’s violence shows at least two people fighting in the middle of the street and several others watching before 10 gunshots are heard. Everyone flinches and then runs frantically.

Gomérez said at least four handguns were fired during the incident that took place over an area of a few blocks near South Middle School.

Four students, ages 16 to 18, were hospitalized. Three have since been released. Police have not identified any suspects. They believe there are multiple suspects who are all tied to the Newburgh area.

When asked why witnesses to violence among teenagers have not fully cooperated in investigations, Gomérez did not directly answer, but tried to offer assurances.

“This is not about why people won’t talk to the police,” he replied. “The police are not here to hurt anyone … This is not about anybody’s feelings [about the police]. This is about all of us in this city as a community.”

Then Newburgh school board member Ramona Burton chimed in from the audience of about 20 community leaders and reporters.

“I have a problem with just denouncing (inaudible word) when there are root causes to this,” she said. “I agree. It does take responsibility, but there are historical reasons why certain neighborhoods are the way they are in terms of violence. We have dig a lot deeper than denouncing, saying this was just about the police [investigation] … There are codes of the street we need to talk about as well.”

It is unclear how many more officers will be on Newburgh streets and for how long, but the intention is clear, Orange County Sheriff Carl DuBois said.

“The police department has to be visible,” DuBois said, adding that increased funding of police departments would increase their visibility. “We can’t operate with a skeleton crew.”

Councilman Omari Shakur, who has been critical of city leaders for increasing police presence, said during his own livestream of the press conference that everyone involved should cooperate.

“We can fix this. Turn yourselves in,” he said. “Unless you want to be on the run for the rest of your life, turn yourselves in … because they’re coming to get you.”

Earlier in the day, mediators with the state-funded gun violence prevention group ‘SNUG’ also expressed frustration that families of the teens involved have not assisted enough in the group’s mediation efforts to prevent retaliatory shootings.

“We need help from the community to help figure out who these kids are, or who their group of friends are,” SNUG mediator Orenzo Charles said over a megaphone at a small rally on South William Street, “so we can try to infiltrate these groups and have conversations with them to show them there’s an alternative to what they’re used to doing.”