Unity in wake of Huntington Sta. shooting

Frustrated residents marched through Huntington Station Saturday in a show of unity and peace aimed at ending the violence in the community.

Nearly a week after three males were shot and wounded outside the Lincoln Farm Apartments, about 100 people gathered in the development's parking lot, to denounce crime and restate pleas for more resources.

The event, organized by Friends of Huntington Station Latin Quarter, included local officials, community organizers and clergy. After various speeches, the group walked up New York Avenue from East 9th Street to a family entertainment center being built on Depot Road.

"This should be a beginning," Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone told the crowd. "We are taking back this community, and we are speaking loudly with one voice."

The victims of last week's gunfire -- aged 16, 18, and 22 -- were sitting in a vehicle on Nov. 27 when eight to 10 men surrounded and shot them in a gang-related crime, police said. Arrests were made Friday in the case, but the suspects' names were not released.

Police have said violent crime was down in Huntington Station through the first 10 months of 2011 compared with 2010, but that was little consolation to local residents.

The Friends group's president, Ed Pérez, said he was angered by last week's shootings.

"We should not have to be fearful of coming into an apartment complex to visit family," he said. Acknowledging those in attendance, he added, "I think the message is clear: We will not accept this kind of activity in this community."

But Kevin Thorbourne, director of the Young Leaders community mentoring group, said he wishes the community would become more involved. "There's a lot of people here, but there should be a whole lot more," he told the crowd.

Thorbourne challenged residents to knock on the doors of five neighbors to invite them to future events. "It's the only way we're going to stop these crimes from happening, by reaching out."

Isabel Roman, 56, of Bay Shore, marched with a homemade sign that read "Peace. Stop Violence." The Huntington Station native was accompanied by her two young grandchildren and her daughter, Josephine Rodriguez, 35, who lives in the Lincoln apartments.

"I just want my grandchildren to be able to go outside and play without being shot," Roman said. "I want them to have what I had here growing up -- to feel safe."

A anti-violence candlelight vigil is planned Sunday at 5 p.m. in the Lincoln Farm Apartments parking lot.