(Updated: 7 p.m.) Riverhead Police tonight identified the victim in this morning’s shooting on East Main Street as Charles Gamble, 35, of East Quogue. The suspect in the shooting remains at large, Riverhead Police Det. Dixon Palmer said in a phone interview.
The man arrested for firing shots outside Southside Hospital this morning, while Gamble was in the hospital undergoing emergency surgery was the victim’s twin brother, Palmer said.
John Gamble, 35, of Riverhead, was present at the scene of the shooting in Riverhead this morning, Palmer said. John Gamble is facing a first-degree reckless endangerment charge and will be arraigned in Suffolk County First District Court in Central Islip tomorrow, Suffolk Police said. See separate story.
The shooting on East Main Street at 3:35 a.m. remains under investigation, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call Riverhead Police at 631-727-4500 ext 328.
(Original story) Riverhead Police are searching for a gunman who shot another man two to three times during a dispute on East Main Street early this morning.
The victim is undergoing surgery at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, Riverhead Police Det. Sgt. Edward Frost said in an interview.
The shooter and victim knew each other, Frost said. “It was not a random act,” he said.
The shooting took place between 3:15 and 3:20 this morning in front of the Suffolk County Community College Culinary Arts Center. The two men were reportedly among those leaving a “hip-hop party event” that had just ended down the street at the Suffolk Theater, Frost said.
The theater had a “club night” event last night, headlined by “Mister Cee, the Finisher,” according to its website.
The victim, whom police declined to identify, was described by police as a black male in his mid-30s. Riverhead Police detectives are investigating the incident and could not provide any additional information about the suspect at this time other than to say he was “reportedly a black male,” Frost said. No weapon has been recovered, he said.
There were no reported incidents at the theater during last night’s “club night” event, according to police records.
Southside Hospital was placed on lockdown this morning after there were reports of gunshots fired in the parking lot there. Although the lockdown took place after the East Main Street shooting victim was transported to the Bay Shore hospital, “it is not known at this time whether that incident is related to the shooting in Riverhead,” Frost said. A Riverhead police officer was at Southside Hospital with the victim when it was placed on lockdown, Frost said.
Update: A Riverhead man was arrested in the shooting incident in Bay Shore. See separate story.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the Riverhead Police Department detective division at 631-727-4500.
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