UPDATE: Calverton man sentenced to 14 years for shooting incident at Bellport vigil
Steven Reid, 27, of Calverton was sentenced on Wednesday to 14 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty last month 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.
Mr. Reid was also plead guilty to 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’s brazen actions at a candlelight vigil followed by his violent attack on a corrections officer show a blatant disregard for the safety of others and the rule of law,” said Mr. Tierney in a press release. “My office will continue to pursue justice relentlessly to ensure the safety and security of our community.”
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.
