The charges against Highway Superintendent John Reilly III include two counts of assault in the first degree, assault in the second degree, multiple counts of criminal possession of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon, and attempted murder in the second degree.
Ring camera footage first obtained by News 12 appears to show the night of the shooting, May 2. In it, a man fires a handgun into the ground before pointing it at a vehicle down a long driveway. The man allegedly yells at the driver to go, then fires at least two shots at the vehicle as it drives away.
Police say the DoorDash driver, 24-year-old Alpha Oumar Barry, was shot in the back. He survived, but with “life-altering” injuries. Police say Barry had gotten lost while making a delivery, didn't speak fluent English, and was knocking on doors around Valerie Drive to ask for help and directions.
Reilly has retained a high-profile law firm, Raiser & Kenniff, to represent him. Attorney Thomas Kenniff notably represented Daniel Penney, the former Marine who was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide for fatally choking a homeless man on a New York City subway last year. In a statement, Kenniff says Reilly’s case is more complex than it seems, and that the shooting was in self-defense.
"The purported Door Dash driver, who wore no uniform and bore no credentials, was seen moments earlier unlawfully entering the garage of a next-door neighbor," Kenniff writes. "He then approached Mr. Reilly’s door without invitation, bizarrely asking to enter his home, while Mr. Reilly’s wife and young daughter were inside. Mr. Reilly’s intention was not to cause harm, but to warn this man off his property after he had resisted his requests to leave."
Police have not characterized Barry's actions leading up to the shooting as illegal.
Reilly was arrested May 3, but he’s back at work after posting bail. Democratic Chester Town Supervisor Brandon Holdridge says the Town Board cannot remove nor suspend Reilly because he is an elected official. Reilly, a Republican, has been highway superintendent since 2021 and was re-elected to a four-year term in 2023.
Holdridge tells WAMC Reilly is primarily working remotely, and work at the Highway Department hasn’t been disrupted. But he says town employees have received threats over the situation, and he’s dubious about Reilly’s ability to work undistracted long-term. The board has called on him to resign.
“Given the whole attention of the trial, it’d be better for the town as a whole to be able to move on from it," says Holdridge.
New York State Senator James Skoufis, a Democrat from the 42nd District, has also called on Reilly to resign, adding in a statement: “Many in our region, myself included, have been deeply shaken by photo and video evidence published in the media in recent days.”
So far, Holdridge says Reilly has refused.
Christopher Koetzle, executive director of the New York Association of Towns and the former Glenville town supervisor, says it’s by design that local elected officials cannot remove one another from office: it prevents abuse of power. He says there are still various situations where a seat might be automatically vacated, such as when an incumbent resigns or if they are convicted of a felony. Otherwise, only the New York State Supreme Court can remove a town elected official.
“Really anybody in that electorate — so, basically a town resident — can make that application to the Supreme Court. And if the resident doesn’t do it, a district attorney where the town’s located could make that application to the appellate division, and then it would be an action of the court," he explains. "But those are really the only ways you can remove a town elected official.”
Holdridge says he's shocked and saddened by reports of the shooting so far, but the town is staying out of it. The Chester Police Department and Chester Town Court have both recused themselves from the case.
Reilly will be arraigned in Orange County Court at a later date.
