Posted on 11/15/2025 8:26:46 AM PST by Impala64ssa
A 46-year-old New Windsor mother is speaking exclusively to News 12 after surviving a fatal shooting inside Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh late Thursday night.
Police say the chaos began around 11 p.m. when 45-year-old Carlos Ortiz, of Newburgh, allegedly pulled a fire alarm inside the emergency room lobby. According to investigators, Ortiz then brandished a knife and attacked a hospital security guard. A second armed security officer fired a single shot, killing Ortiz.
Hathurusinghe told News 12 by phone she and her husband were trying to leave the building after security told everyone to evacuate due to the alarm. She says the struggle between Ortiz and security erupted within seconds.
“I thought they would fall into my body... and at the same time I feel my left leg got huge numbness,” she said. Hathurusinghe says she immediately realized she and Ortiz had both been shot. The woman says she was shot in the upper thigh, requiring surgery to remove the bullet. “I see a gentleman laying on the floor in blood,” she recalled. She told News 12 she begged for help, but the chaos made it difficult for anyone to realize she was wounded. “I was screaming my leg hurts... but they didn’t care,” she said.
Hathurusinghe was still at the hospital Friday morning, awaiting surgery to remove the bullet. “If I don’t at least slightly stand up, I definitely would have lost my life too. It’s very hard for me to recover from that feeling,” she said. Hospital officials released a statement Friday, saying: “Following an overnight incident, a police investigation took place at Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall. Our foremost responsibility is, and will always be, to provide a safe, secure, and healing environment for our patients, staff, and community.
We are grateful to our Public Safety and Security Team, as well as the City of Newburgh Police Department, for their ongoing dedication to safety and their swift, professional response in protecting our staff and our community.” The hospital says it remains open and fully operational. Hathurusinghe says despite her recovery, she won’t be returning to the hospital anytime soon. “Never. Never,” she said. Police say they are interviewing witnesses and reviewing hospital surveillance video. No charges have been filed. Anyone with information is asked to call Newburgh detectives at 845-569-7519
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Newburgh was named an All American city in the 50’s. All that changed in the mid 60’s when I-84 and the Newburgh Beacon Bridge opened
Apparently, the security guard bullet that killed Ortiz ended up in her leg.
yup, over penetration
Lol!
The author was paid by the word.
I kept reading the name as Hathursruhe. Very German that way. Bot not really.
I did too!
I told Grok "Write a concise summary of this story." Grok isn't paid by the word, so you get this...
On Thursday night at Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, 45-year-old Carlos Ortiz allegedly pulled a fire alarm in the ER lobby, then attacked a security guard with a knife, prompting a second armed guard to fatally shoot him. Nearby, 46-year-old Chamika Hathurusinghe, a mother from New Windsor evacuating with her husband, was struck in the upper thigh by the gunfire and required surgery to remove the bullet.I told Grok "Tighten it up further. Why need "emotional" or "sudden"?" And I got...In an emotional account, Hathurusinghe recounted the sudden chaos, feeling numbness in her leg as she narrowly avoided worse injury, screaming for help amid the pandemonium while seeing Ortiz bleeding out, and vowing never to return to the hospital due to the trauma.
At Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, 45-year-old Carlos Ortiz pulled a fire alarm in the ER, then stabbed a security guard with a knife. A second armed guard shot and killed Ortiz. A stray bullet struck 46-year-old Chamika Hathurusinghe of New Windsor in the thigh; she required surgery. Hathurusinghe, who was evacuating with her husband, said she will never return to the hospital. The facility stayed open; the incident remains under investigation with no charges filed.I wrote "Do you really need 'stray'" and it replied...
At Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, 45-year-old Carlos Ortiz pulled a fire alarm in the ER, then stabbed a security guard with a knife. A second armed guard shot and killed Ortiz. A bullet struck 46-year-old Chamika Hathurusinghe of New Windsor in the thigh; she required surgery. Hathurusinghe, evacuating with her husband, said she will never return to the hospital. The facility remained open; the incident is under investigation with no charges filed.Now we are getting somewhere!
Between the TV-station newswriting and the English-as-a-third-or-fourth-language gibberish from the victim, this was not the easiest story to understand.
Whatever TV-station nitwit wrote this obviously thought that the entire world would know where Newburgh is.
Brandished a knife yet she was shot ... friendly fire incident?
"The security guard was trying to get the guy with the knife. And I'm guessing the bullet just went through the dude with the knife and hit her in the leg," said Hathurusinghe's son Chareen
Thanks.
I was trying to find out what country this was in.
“I thought they would fall into my body...
Who did she think was going to fall into her body?
Weird article.
“surviving a fatal shooting”
Amazing.
I suspect that the reportage is less than amazing.
You are more right than you know.
Sri Lanka was colonized good and hard and the Burghers are still there in force, and have certain opinions about the natives. So not a surprise this woman had 'tude even though she was an innocent bystander and uh, shot.
Watch Bourdain's No Reservations visit to Sri Lanka -- one of the most striking scenes is his visit to the "Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon" country club, which could have stepped right out of Afrikaa and the Dutch Cape Colony.
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