Cops: Suspected dealer shot in Ronkonkoma

A suspected drug dealer was shot in Ronkonkoma during an exchange of gunfire with an undercover law enforcement officer Thursday evening, officials said.

The suspect was airlifted by Suffolk County police helicopter to a hospital for treatment, officials said. No information was immediately available concerning the suspect's condition or identity.

Robert Clifford, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota, said the shooting was at a gas station on the Long Island Expressway's North Service Road at exit 61.

Undercover law enforcement members of the DA's Heroin Task Force were on the scene at a drug sale at about 6 p.m., officials said. The suspect fired at the officers, Clifford said, and a task force member returned the gunfire, striking the suspect.

"The task force is a multijurisdictional drug enforcement unit created to target street-level suppliers of heroin," Clifford said. The unit is funded and supervised by the DA's office, he said.