Neighbors: Shooting reflects neglected community

BY ZACHARY R. DOWDY | zachary.dowdy@newsday.com

11:07 PM EDT, April 14, 2008

It's been eight months since the shooting death of 15-year-old Alvin Brothers shocked and galvanized Bellport residents, activists and legislators into seeking more anti-violence resources for the community.

But the shooting Monday of a middle-schooler who was struck by a bullet in his own home renewed alarm in the community whose acute needs, some said, have been ignored for too long.

The most recent shooting on Provost Avenue came as area organizations were getting new youth-oriented and anti-violence initiatives off the ground.

"This shooting confirms that this community has been neglected to the point that where this stuff is happening and it's going to take a lot more effort to try to get people to stop engaging in this violent behavior," said Sergio Argueta, executive director of Struggling to Reunite Our New Generation, an anti-gang violence group that set up a chapter in Bellport about a month ago.

Argueta said he was perturbed that Brothers' killing still has not been solved.

"When a 12-year-old kid gets shot, it's something really serious," he added. "Bellport didn't get to where it is overnight."

Police said the boy was sitting at the kitchen table at about 1:30 p.m. when he was shot once in the face as at least three bullets were fired at his home.

Police have no suspects.

The violence was reminiscent of the shooting of Brothers, who was killed last August as he returned from a "Night Out Against Crime" event at a local park.

He and some friends were standing on Patchogue Avenue and exchanged words with a man in a silver, four-door vehicle. The driver left but came back a few minutes later and sprayed the street with gunfire, striking Brothers in the back, police said.

Activist Jason Alexander, who works with Big Brothers of Bellport, was at the scene of the shooting last night, as were dozens of curious and concerned residents.

Alexander blames problems in the area on the lack of activities for young people. He said that the Boys and Girls Club of the Bellport Area is about 10 minutes away, but that the organization is one of so few that provide services for youth.

Alexander's group is organizing Bellport Day, an annual celebration of the community. But he said spurts of violence seem to make the harder the job of unifying the village.

"There's no activities for these kids to do," Alexander said. "They just congregate in areas and things like this happen."

Staff writer Bill Mason contributed to this story.