News

Gang forum tonight at rec center

By The Suffolk Times

Southold shooting suspects (from left) Walter Vasquez, 17, of Greenport; Pedro Emilio Santamaria, 31, of Greenport; and Jeremias Nathaniel Recinos Torres, 19, of Aquebogue are escorted by corrections officers into Southold Town Court Friday morning. The three were arraigned in Suffolk County court Wednesday. (Credit: Paul Squire, file)
Southold shooting suspects (from left) Walter Vasquez, 17, of Greenport; Pedro Emilio Santamaria, 31, of Greenport; and Jeremias Nathaniel Recinos Torres, 19, of Aquebogue were escorted by corrections officers into Southold Town Court last month. (Credit: Paul Squire, file)

Southold’s police chief and other officials are hosting a public forum tonight, Thursday, to discuss gang issues in Southold Town.

The forum is at 7 p.m. at the Southold Recreation Center on Peconic Lane. All of the public is invited.

The meeting comes after last month’s gang-related shooting on a residential street of Southold, during which five alleged members of MS-13 attacked two men from a rival gang with guns and a machete.

“The challenge is to allay the community’s concerns,” said Police Chief Martin Flatley. “Now that everybody’s been arrested [in the October shooting], we can let them know the status of that case and what’s transpired since then.

“It’s important for us to get the message out that we don’t have a gang violence problem that’s spirling out of control and going to bring down the whole North Fork,” he continued. “I want to make it a factual account, rather than a glorified account.”

For more information on the forum, see here.

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