Cops: Gunman had ammo strapped to body

A gunman who crashed his pickup and shot a firefighter rushing to help him was armed to the teeth with a half-dozen loaded weapons and bent on committing "mayhem," Nassau police said Wednesday.

The family of the man, Jason Beller, 31, of Commack, who was killed in a shootout with police, Wednesday night described him as "extremely troubled." They offered an apology to Justin Angell, 20, a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician from Bellmore who was shot in the back but is expected to recover.

"It is clear to us that this man was out to commit mayhem in this county last night, and he happened to run into that pole and he committed that mayhem on this young firefighter," said Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey.

While authorities say Beller's exact intentions remain unclear, the arsenal pulled from his body and crashed pickup, including three assault-style weapons and a .357 Magnum revolver, strongly suggested he planned violence.

The spray of gunfire on a residential block of Bellmore Avenue began Tuesday shortly after a 9:57 p.m. call to 911 that a vehicle had crashed into an electrical pole, sending wires and a transformer tumbling to the street, police said.

Within minutes, a Bellmore Fire Department ambulance carrying three EMTs pulled up north of the crash. Angell rushed toward the truck, its front end crushed in the collision, to help the driver.

But Beller, still behind the wheel, opened fire with an assault rifle, striking Angell once in the back. Angell ran toward his ambulance but collapsed on a nearby lawn as his colleagues - one of them his older brother - rushed to his side.

As Angell was dragged to safety, a K-9 police officer pulled up past the truck. "As he got out of his vehicle, he noticed the laser sights of a firearm, of a long rifle, honing in on him," Mulvey said.

The officer circled around the back of the pickup truck, gun drawn, seeking protection from the gunfire. Seconds later, two Seventh Precinct patrol officers pulled up. They sought cover behind their cars, one of them returning fire at Beller.

As Beller continued spraying bullets, the K-9 officer ran to the passenger side of the truck and fired several times at close range through the closed passenger window, killing Beller. The gunfire lasted less than 90 seconds.

Beller fired at least eight rounds from a black pistol-grip assault rifle with a banana clip, police said. A lever-action .338 rifle was found strapped to his chest.

An automatic pistol was in one pocket and a fully loaded .357 Magnum with a long barrel was in Beller's lap. He also wore on his left forearm an armband carrying bullets, police said. Two other loaded guns were within reach in the truck, along with a child's car seat, several beers and prescription pill bottles, police said.

Federal officials are tracing how he obtained the guns.

Police found no note or other indication of his motives in the late model pickup, which Beller's neighbors said he frequently cleaned and worked on. But investigators believe the chain of events may have begun about two hours before the gunfight - in Commack, where Beller lived with his wife and at least one child.

About 8 p.m., Suffolk police responded to a call of a domestic disturbance at the Beller house, a Suffolk police spokesman said. The female complainant was taken to the precinct and spoke to a domestic violence representative, they said. She refused to press charges, and arranged to spend the night with a friend.

A Beller family member who declined to be identified Wednesday night offered "deepest and most sincere apologies" to Angell and his family, as well as the Bellmore community.

"We pray that Mr. Angell fully recovers and is not disheartened from continuing his great community service," she said, reading a statement.

Beller's father, Dr. David Beller, is an oral surgeon in Manhattan.

Police said Jason Beller moved about a year ago to Suffolk from Florida. Neighbors described him as quiet and polite. "He always had a good attitude, that everything was good and stuff," said Nick Tesesco, 48, who shared a backyard fence with Beller. His wife, Donna, 44, said: "I just can't believe this man had this arsenal."

With Sophia Chang, Zachary R. Dowdy and Tania Lopez