1 killed in Coram 'home invasion that went bad,' Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison says
A 46-year-old man was fatally shot and his wife was pistol-whipped during a home invasion in Coram early Thursday, Suffolk police officials said.
Four men, at least one brandishing a gun, forced their way into a home on Everglades Lane and demanded money, according to Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, the commanding officer of the Suffolk County Police Department Homicide Squad.
"It looks like a home invasion that went bad and unfortunately one person was shot and succumbed to his injuries and the other one was beaten with a pistol," Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said during an early morning news conference at the scene. "She is cooperating right now and back at the precinct talking to the investigators."
Police were called to the house at about 3:45 a.m., Beyrer said, and found that Eric Westby had been shot. Police have not released the name of his wife, who they said was struck with a gun.
Westby was takento John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson, where he was pronounced dead. His wife was treated for her injuries at a nearby hospital.
Beyrer said the perpetrators fled with money and may have also seized drugs from the home. The suspects fled in an unknown direction, and police do not have a description of their vehicle
The home may have been targeted by the perpetrators "for some type of narcotics," Harrison said.
Investigators outside the home in Coram on Thursday. Credit: James Carbone
Beyrer said there was no indication that the suspects knew the victims.
"It does not appear that they knew these people, but they might have had information from someone else," Beyrer said.
Westby and his wife shared the home with the wife’s 70-year-old father and a man in his 20s. They were were also at the residence during the home invasion, according to police.
A man who lives in the neighborhood where the shooting happened said with criminal activity in in the area had increased in recent years, including drug dealing, break-ins and vandalism. "There are a lot of drug problems," said Richard Becker, a 30-year area resident.
Suffolk police on the scene of the shooting on Everglades Lane in Coram Thursday morning. Credit: James Carbone
Authorities ask anyone with information about Thursday's fatal shooting to call the Suffolk Homcide Squad at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
"We are going to need the community’s help," Harrison said.
With Cecilia Dowd and James Carbone
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