Cops: Orange County Man Charged With Murder After Shooting Fugitive Dead
SPARROWBUSH, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- An Orange County man is behind bars on a murder charge after he allegedly shot a fugitive rape suspect near his family's home Friday.
As CBS 2's Lou Young reported exclusively, authorities said David Carlson, a 42-year-old father of three, admitted to killing Norris Acosta-Sanchez with his shotgun when the wanted man emerged from the woods after eluding police in Sparrowbush.
Carlson's neighbors say everyone in the area was on edge during the police manhunt.
"We were really frightened staying there that night because the guy's on the loose," said Amy Mann. "The police lost him."
Acosta-Sanchez, 35, had reportedly been staying in a vacant cabin near Carlson's home on Old Plank Road. Police surrounded the cabin Thursday and broke down the door trying to make an arrest, but he wasn't inside. Police searched the woods all day with heavily armed teams but didn't find him.
Witness Carmine Ferrera spotted Acosta-Sanchez when Carlson already had his gun pointed at him. Because he's scheduled to testify before a grand jury, Ferrera declined to provide specifics about what he saw, except to say: "I didn't see a murder happen. That's as far as I'm going to go.
"I can tell you the community was in fear. I can tell you Dave wasn't the only one who armed himself."
Carlson fired four shots, two of which struck Acosta-Sanchez, police said.
After the shooting, Carlson, a union contractor, gave a long interview to state police and admitted in hindsight he should have called 911, Young reported.
Carlson is charged with second-degree murder. He's being held in jail on $250,000 bail.
Orange County District Attorney Frank Phillips characterized the incident as "a tragedy all the way around" but is prosecuting Carlson.
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