Police officers and civilians outside a crime scene at 55 Liberty Street in Newburgh, NY on Thursday morning, March 8, 2012. Michael Lembhard was shot and killed in a police involved shooting inside the residence. CHET GORDON/Times Herald-Record
*“You don’t see this everyday. Not even me…” Another late night shooting here in my town – this time by the police – where officers confronted a young man who had a warrant against him, eventually chasing him into an apartment, and after breaking down the door, fired multiple shots after he apparently came at them with a knife. 
I’d spent the better part of the night at the scene and then outside the hospital where grieving relatives gathered and taunted police officers outside the ER. By the time I returned home, edited my take and moved images to the office, it was after 3AM when I finally got to bed. Starting the workday this morning, I was back at the scene for most of the morning with the same reporter, and something that’s never happened in my career – we were allowed into the first floor living room where the shooting took place. It all got kind of eery with a few of us media types crammed into the small space exchanging glances and moving about the family members to make images and video of the dried blood and gunshot holes in the walls and floor. ~cg.
Chet Gordon resides in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. A photojournalist for more than 25 years, he recently worked as Westchester Magazine's first photo editor, and previously was a staff photographer at four NYC metro area newspapers. He was also a photo editor at the NY Daily News for 5 years. His work has appeared in The New York Times, International Herald-Tribune, USA Today, MailOnline (UK), Army Times, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, and Popular Photography magazines, among others. He is a career member of the National Press Photographer’s Association (NPPA), and a former board member of the NY Press Photographer’s Association (NYPPA). He served honorably as a U.S. Marine in the mid-1980's, including 2+ years stationed on Okinawa, Japan, and throughout Southeast Asia. A longtime volunteer and travel enthusiast, he accompanies several humanitarian aid clients on their international disaster relief and medical missions. Since 1997, he's worked in several African countries, the Middle East, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, as well as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Russian Federation, and Thailand. He routinely mentors young photographers looking to break into the industry and vacations in Bermuda and Kenya.
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