After Shooting Injures 1, Call For State Assistance

Long Islander News photo/Andrew Wroblewski
The scene of a shooting that took place early Wednesday morning is pictured later in the day after the incident.

By Jano Tantongco
jtantongco@longislandergroup.com

After a Greenlawn man was shot twice and rushed to the hospital early Wednesday morning, a community advocate is looking to the state for more help.

At around 1:20 a.m. Wednesday, a man dressed in black approached a group of people standing outside of 283A Broadway in Greenlawn, Suffolk police said. Among the group was Omar Fuentes, 30, who was shot twice and rushed by the Greenlawn Fire Department to Huntington Hospital for treatment of “non-life-threatening injuries.”

The suspect was described as short, thin and wearing all black.

Police said Fuentes is not a known gang member.

In the wake of the shooting, community advocate and longtime Huntington Station resident Jim McGoldrick looked to state officials for assistance with what he views as a gang-related problem.

He said that while the town has hired more park rangers to aid in tackling crime, more help is needed. “The burden is just being put on the town. It’s not fair to the town, and it’s not fair to the residents.”

He added that the “state is really failing us,” looking to nearby Brentwood, which received additional state police manpower in April after a slew of gang-related shootings attributed to MS-13.

“It’s terrible. It’s definitely spread. It’s moved from the station now. We need help,” McGoldrick said.

Police are asking anyone with information on the shooting to call the Second Squad at 631-854-8252 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.

-TANTONGCO