Mom: Shooting victim ran with a bad crowd

A Huntington Station man who was shot and killed in his hometown was a good person who fell in with a bad crowd, a woman who identified herself as his mother said Sunday.

Michael Fredericks, 26, was shot in the head on Depot Road Saturday night, Suffolk police said.

Officers responding to a 10:18 p.m. call about a shooting learned that Fredericks had already been taken by a friend to Huntington Hospital.

He was pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.

Christine Bolt, of Alabama, said her son had been living in Huntington Station for about two years and had gotten involved with a bad crowd.

"He had a good life. He had everything," Bolt said. "He chose the wrong direction. This is the life he wanted to live."

Fredericks was the father of two children, aged 7 and 8, Bolt said. She spoke to him about once a month, but she said he was always evasive about his life.

"He was a character. He joked around so much, you just didn't know what he was doing," she said, before adding tearfully: "He's in a safer place right now. At least now I know where he's at."

Police ask anyone with information about the shooting to contact the homicide squad at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.