Suffolk officer shot in the face 'happy to be alive,' officials say

A Suffolk police officer was shot in the face early Thursday morning in Bay Shore while executing a search warrant at the home of a homicide suspect who is accused of killing a 66-year-old man, police said Thursday.

The officer, who is 33 years old and a two-year veteran of the department, is expected to make a full recovery, officials said. The officer, who is assigned to the Third Precinct, is a married father of three and was a Navy medic for four years, officials said.

"So I spoke to him a little while ago," Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said at a news conference at the hospital Thursday morning. "He’s got a smile on his face. I think he's in a lot of pain, but I think he understands that yeah, this could have got a lot worse. So I think he's happy to be alive and we're happy that he's alive. But he's in good spirits."

Catalina added of the wounded officer: "He is a tough, tough kid. He is alert, he is conscious and he is talking to us. I think the world of the kid and his fellow officers said the same thing — he's a great hardworking kid."

The officer, whose name was not released, is the second member of the Suffolk County Police Department injured in the line of duty this year. In January, Officer Brendon Gallagher was severely injured while trying to stop a speeding motorist on the Long Island Expressway.

Catalina said the police received a 911 call at about 4:35 p.m. Wednesday about a body in a wooded lot on New York Avenue. 

Police identified the 66-year-old victim as Eugene Allen, of Brentwood. He had "wounds that were indicative of homicidal violence" that he said "appear to be lacerations."

Nieves F. Reyes, 48, of Bay Shore, was identified as a person of interest through Ring camera footage, Catalina said. He was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree attempted murder of a police officer. The suspect is being held overnight at the Sixth Precinct in Selden and is scheduled to be arraigned in First District Court in Central Islip on Friday.

The officer was trying to execute a search warrant at his home and, while the door was open, the suspect allegedly opened fire at about 2:25 a.m. Thursday, Catalina said.

"While the officers were attempting to execute the search warrant, the suspect began to fire several shots from inside the home," Catalina said.

The officer's partner drove him to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore in a police car, Catalina said. The officer never lost consciousness, Catalina noted, and    was later transferred to Stony Brook University Hospital, where he underwent surgery.

Officers "tactically retreated" from the scene, Catalina said, and the department’s Hostage Negotiation Team was called in. Emergency Services Unit officers deployed a drone and in response, the suspect allegedly fired seven shots, striking a police vehicle several times, Catalina said. 

Reyes surrendered at 6:09 a.m. Thursday, police said.

"I want to commend all the officers involved," Catalina said. "They showed great restraint. No one fired their weapons. Nobody returned fire."

The victim and the suspect "are known to one another," Catalina said. "It seemed that they worked together [as mechanics] at some point and they had prior disputes in the past."

Dr. James Vosswinkel, of Stony Brook University Hospital, said the bullet fractured the officer’s cheekbone and lodged beneath his ear. The bullet was removed in surgery, he said.

"This officer's wound was literally a half-inch away from his eye," Vosswinkel said.

He said the officer was lucky because if the round had hit a half-inch closer he could have been blinded or killed.

"Amazingly, he has no nerve damage and he should make a full recovery," Vosswinkel said.

He said the officer will have a "brief stay" in the hospital before he is released.

"We're extremely, extremely fortunate because like I said, a half-inch over or at a different bit of an angle, we have a gunshot to the brain and those are very highly fatal," Vosswinkel said.

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine called it a "lucky day," saying the responding officers showed "great restraint" and that he was praying for the officer’s recovery.

"Not one shot was fired by the Suffolk County police," Romaine said. "Very professional. And in the end, the suspect surrendered on his own volition. We have him in custody."

"We are grateful that bullet didn't do the devastating damage it could have done," Romaine said.

Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association President Lou Civello, in a statement, said the shooting is an example of the dangers faced by police officers.

“We stand with our injured brother officer, and we extend our full support to him and his family as he recovers," Civello said.

Erick Reyes, 23, who lives down the street from the shooting, said he was taking out the trash around 4 a.m. when he noticed police trucks barricading 18th Avenue.

He said he saw police arresting the suspect.

"They had him face down to the ground," Reyes said.

He also heard a helicopter Wednesday night and was happy to hear the police officer will make a recovery.

Reyes said he has lived in the neighborhood with his family since 2019 and nothing like this has happened before.

"My little brother, usually we come outside and play baseball," he said. "But stuff like this, you can't be going outside. It’s very scary."

Newsday's Maureen Mullarkey contributed to this story.