Cops: Detectives probe police-related shooting in Merrick

A 43-year-old Merrick man was shot to death in an officer-involved-shooting early Wednesday after Nassau police responded to a domestic disturbance call at his Murray Place residence, authorities said.

The unidentified man, who lived at the home with a woman and a young girl, was shot in the upper torso and pronounced dead at a hospital, Nassau police said.

Officers responded to the home at about 1:45 a.m. in response to a domestic disturbance call but Nassau police declined to provide additional details about what led up to the shooting.

“We have to see what the evidence shows us,” said Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. “There’s some evidence inside that has to be reviewed. It’s a quick turn around.”

Neighbors on the quiet, tree-lined block described a serene night interrupted by the sounds of a woman running door-to-door screaming for her life.

“My brothers woke me up. We went outside. The cops pulled up,” said Christopher Valentine, a Murray Place resident. “They told us to get back in the house and two minutes later we heard gunshots. ‘He’s dead,’ that’s what I thought.”

Another resident who did not want to give his name out of concerns for his safety, said he was sound asleep when he heard a pounding on his door.

“I heard two pops, which I took to be gunshots,” said the neighbor. “What I heard was enough to wake me up from a sound sleep.”