Calverton man pleads guilty in shooting incident at Bellport vigil

A Calverton man has pleaded guilty to attempted murder in the second degree and other related charges for opening fire at a candlelight vigil in Bellport in July 2023, according to a statement by Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney.

Steven Reid, 27, was also convicted of assault in the second degree for his unprovoked attack on a corrections officer in December 2023 while in custody on the charges related to the July shooting incident.

“This defendant viciously opened fire on an unsuspecting community gathered to mourn the loss of a loved one,” said Mr. Tierney in a press release. “The defendant then continued his violent behavior while in custody, assaulting an unsuspecting corrections officer just trying to do his job. This conviction sends a message that my office will prosecute gun violence in our community and violence against our law enforcement partners to the fullest extent.”

On July 6, 2023, more than 100 people gathered in Bellport to celebrate the life of a community member who had died in a motorcycle accident days before. At the end of the candlelight vigil, Mr. Reid became involved in a physical altercation with another man who attended the vigil.

During the altercation, Mr. Reid pulled out a gun and shot the man at point-blank range in the upper right thigh. The bullet shattered the man’s femur, passed through his leg, and lodged into his right shin. Vigil attendees placed a tourniquet on the man’s leg and rushed him to the hospital where he underwent emergency orthopedic surgery to replace his shattered femur with metal rods and pins.

Minutes later, Mr. Reid followed the dispersing crowd and opened fire on another group of vigil attendees. Mr. Reid allegedly shot at one man from close range. That victim suffered four gunshot wounds, including to his back, shoulder and both of his legs. Immediately thereafter, Mr. Reid fired twice towards an adult female then shot at another group of attendees, including a woman and a 9-year-old boy, as they were running to a nearby residence.

Mr. Reid fled Suffolk County and was apprehended in North Carolina in September 2023 and brought back to Long Island to face charges. On December 19, 2023, while in custody at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility, Reid assaulted a 26-year-old corrections officer, striking the officer several times without provocation.

On April 19, 2024, Reid pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice Anthony Senft to attempted murder in the second degree, a class B violent felony; assault in the first degree, a class B violent felony; criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, a class C violent felony; and assault in the second degree, a class D violent felony.

Mr. Reid is due back in court on May 22 and is expected to be sentenced to 14 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision.