Nassau prosecutors say Westbury teen had gun near fatal Eisenhower Park shooting

Nassau police found the same caliber of handgun used in a fatal Eisenhower Park shooting when they arrested a Westbury teen attempting to flee the scene, prosecutors said Thursday at the boy's arraignment on a weapon charge.

Defense attorney Greg Zak entered a not guilty plea on behalf of his 17-year-old client, as both stood before Nassau Supreme Court Justice Joy Watson.

Zak told Watson the teen, who has not been charged in connection with the park shootings, had no prior convictions.

'So-called barbecue'

"At this point, there's been no allegations or evidence to suggest he fired that firearm," Zak said. Newsday is not identifying the teen because he is a minor.

A 15-year-old boy died and two men were wounded during what Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder described at the scene Wednesday night as a "so-called barbecue" for members of "a Blood gang group," and promoted on social media.

Ryder added that an argument between two people led to gunfire at the cookout, which took place in an area next to tennis courts and a playground, just north of the park's Hempstead Turnpike entrance.

Police arrested the teen after prosecutors said he "was observed attempting to leave the scene" of the shooting. Police said they took him into custody after he entered a nearby gated area of the park. They also recovered a 9 mm handgun with a capacity for 17 rounds. The same type of weapon was used in the park shooting, and police found 9 mm shell casings nearby, prosecutors said.

Watson ordered the teen remanded to jail without bail.

"The fact that there was a heavily loaded firearm and shell casings consistent with that type of a firearm in the vicinity of where the gun was found, and your client was at that location," Watson said. "I do believe that there is a tremendous risk of flight involved in this case."

A stable home

The teen's mother told the court he has a stable home and works at the family's pet grooming business in Westbury.

"I will make sure he stays out of trouble. I've been trying to do that, but we've been having family problems," she said.

Outside court, she told reporters: "My son didn't do anything."

After the shooting late Wednesday, Ryder said two people "with guns" had been arrested.

On Thursday, police did not provide additional information on other arrests.

Nassau police responded to multiple calls of a shooting near Parking Field 2 about 8:20 p.m. on Wednesday, Ryder said. 

The two wounded men, ages 28 and 31, were taken to a hospital and remained in critical condition, police said Thursday.

The boy was pronounced dead at a hospital, Ryder said. The victim's identification had not been released Thursday.

The investigation was ongoing at the park Thursday.

Walkers and joggers out for their regular morning routines made their way on a bicycle path with a view of the crime scene several hundred feet away.

Rick Feinstein, 83, who walks 4 miles three times at week in the park with friends, said crimes like Wednesday night's shooting don't ever enter his mind when he's out.

"We've all been here for many, many years running in the park, and we've never had a single incident," Feinstein said. "The biggest incident I had was I lost my wallet."

Gerard Biscardi, 78, of Merrick, said he usually comes to the park to ride his bicycle and listen to audiobooks. He's not about to change his routine.

"This is the quietest park," Biscardi said. "It's so clean."

The county averaged 2.1 gun deaths per 100,000 people between 2020 and 2024, according to the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That’s below the 2023 gun death rate for the state, which was 4.82 gun deaths per 100,000 people, according to the nonprofit.

Nassau County saw a decline of about 10% in total index crimes between 2023 and 2024, according to the latest state data, a faster decline than for the state as a whole, which saw a 4% drop. The state defines index crimes as consisting of seven crime types — murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.