Gang violence on Long Island

Erica Boynton visits a memorial that marks the spot in Brentwood where her 15-year-old son Christopher Hamilton was shot and killed in an alleged gang incident. (March 10, 2010)

An undated photograph of Christopher Hamilton, 15, who was shot in the head at a party in Brentwood and later died at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.

Erica Boynton shows a picture of her son, Christopher Hamilton, 15, who was shot and killed by suspected gang members while attending a party in Brentwood in November 2009. (Sept. 13, 2011)

Investigators look over a basketball court at Timberline Park in Brentwood where 13-year-old Wilson Batista Jr. was shot in the head while playing basketball in a suspected gang incident. (June 16, 2009)

13-year-old Wilson Batista Jr. was shot in the head while playing basketball at this court in Brentwood, the victim of a suspected gang-related incident. (June 16, 2009)

Chris DiCierdo at the scene in Brentwood where his friend was shot and killed in a suspected gang incident. (Feb. 18, 2010)

An undated photo of David Sandler, who was shot and killed in Brentwood in a suspected gang-related incident.

Jasmine Sandler, 22, with her back to the camera, is consoled at the scene where her 20-year-old brother was shot and killed in a gang-related incident. (Feb. 18, 2010)

A person was shot and killed in front of Hermanos Grocery in Brentwood, the second killing at this site this year. (Feb. 18, 2010)

Clara Fiallo, whose son David Sandler was shot and killed on Feb. 17, 2010, speaks about gang violence during a community meeting at the Brentwood Public Library. (March 3, 2010)

Residents applaud during a community meeting on gang violence at the Brentwood Public Library. Clapping second from right is Erica Boynton, whose son Christopher Hamilton was shot and killed in November 2009. (March 3, 2010)

Miguel Peralta with his wife Yohani. Peralta, 57, was shot and killed Sept. 12, 2009, by two men who robbed the Brentwood grocery store where he was working.

Suffolk County police officers, part of the department's anti-gang unit, patrol a housing complex in Huntington Station looking for gang activity in the area. (Oct. 10, 2012)

Suffolk County police officers, part of the department's anti-gang unit, patrol a housing unit in Huntington Station as part of the office's efforts to combat gang violence on Long Island, led in large part by the MS-13 gang with origins in Central America. (Oct. 10, 2012)

Police officers from the Suffolk County Police Department's anti-gang unit, patrol a housing complex in Huntington Station. Suffolk police withdrew from a federal gang task force, preferring to address gang violence internally on a precinct level, official said. (Oct. 10, 2012)

A Suffolk County police officer patrols looking for gang activity as part of the department's anti-gang unit. As members of a federal gang-violence task force, Suffolk detectives helped arrest 38 suspected gang members, including many tied to crimes in Brentwood and Huntington Station. (Oct.10, 2012)

During their nightly patrols as part of Suffolk County Police Department's anti-gang unit, detectives frequently check in with local businesses to increase their visibility and discourage gang activity. (Oct. 10, 2012)

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, with acting Police Commissioner Edward Webber, announces a plan to combat gang violence by decentralizing the police department's gang unit in Huntington Station. (Jan 24, 2012)