Cops: Riverhead man fired shots outside Southside Hospital Saturday morning

(Updated: 7:10 p.m.) A Riverhead man was arrested after firing multiple rounds from a 9mm handgun in the parking lot of Southside Hospital in Bay Shore just before 6 a.m. today, according to Suffolk County Police.

John Gamble, 35, of Wildwood Trail was charged with reckless endangerment in the first degree following his arrest this morning, Suffolk Police said in a press release issued late this afternoon.

At the time Gamble fired the shots outside Southside Hospital, his twin brother, Charles Gamble of East Quogue, was inside the hospital being treated for multiple gunshot wounds following an incident on East Main Street in Riverhead. The Bay Shore hospital was placed on lockdown. No one was injured in the incident. 

Charles Gamble was shot at around 3:25 a.m. during a dispute on East Main Street. He and his assailant had both just left a “club night” event at the Suffolk Theater featuring hip-hop DJ “Mister Cee- The Finisher.” The victim was transferred to Southside Hospital from Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he was initially brought for treatment.

John Gamble was present at the scene of the shooting on East Main Street but is not a suspect in the shooting, according to Riverhead Police. The shooter is still at large and the investigation is ongoing, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call 631-727-4500 ext. 328.

John Gamble is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in First District Court in Central Islip.

Online criminal records show Gamble has three prior felony convictions, two on attempted drug possession charges in 2006 and 2008 — for which he served time in upstate prisons— and a third on a felony DWI charge in September 2015.

Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.