Man dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot in charred Hauppauge home, cops say
The Hauppauge Fire Department battles a house fire on Grissom Way Wednesday night. Credit: Joseph C. Sperber
A Hauppauge man who set his house ablaze Wednesday night was later found inside the home dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Suffolk County police said.
Police identified the victim only as a 59-year-old man.
The fire at the home on Grissom Way was reported in a 911 call at 10:49 p.m., police said. Firefighters from Hauppauge, Smithtown and Central Islip and a crew from Central Islip-Hauppauge Ambulance all responded to the scene, where flames engulfed the Colonial and spread to surrounding foliage. A subsequent search of the charred home found the victim.
Homicide Squad and Arson Section detectives are still investigating the incident, but preliminary indications are that the death was a suicide, police said.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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