Man shot on LIRR train at Bellport station; four suspects at large

A 40-year-old man was shot in the shoulder aboard a Long Island Rail Road train at Bellport station around 2:25 a.m. Thursday. Four suspects fled the scene and MTA police are still searching for the gunman.

Shooting on LIRR train at Bellport leaves victim hospitalised, suspects flee

MTA police are hunting for a gunman after a 40-year-old man was shot in the shoulder on board a Long Island Rail Road train at Bellport station in the early hours of Thursday morning, abc7ny.com reports.

The shooting occurred at approximately 2:25 a.m. as a group of four people were disembarking the train and another man was boarding. Words were exchanged between the group and the victim, after which one of the four turned back and fired a single shot, striking the man in the shoulder.

The injured man remained on the eastbound train and rode it to the Mastic-Shirley station, where he sought assistance. He was subsequently treated and released from NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk. The four suspects fled Bellport station on foot and have not been apprehended.

Surveillance footage from the area showed officers conducting a search of a nearby property with a K-9 unit.

The incident has unsettled residents and members of the New Bethel First Pentecostal Church, located directly across the street from the station. "Shooting definitely is scary," one local said.

Church member Ruth Ekpin expressed concern about the direction of the community. "That is shocking, Bellport is changing, I guess," she said, adding that the proximity of the church and an ambulance had given many a false sense of security. "We have a lot of elderly people, people going to work, you would think it's safe with the ambulance right here, the church right here."

Pastor Charlie Thomas Bullock of the same congregation acknowledged the gravity of the event while stopping short of alarm. "I wouldn't say it worries me but it concerns me, but no worries because we are in the hands of God," Bullock said. "I believe he's protecting our church works — he's been doing it for 67 years."

The search for the shooter remains ongoing.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)