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Long Beach man arrested after shooting

‘Heavily armed’ Marine Corps veteran surrenders to police following massive search  

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Long Beach police arrested a “heavily armed” Wyoming Avenue man in connection with an early morning shooting in the West End on Tuesday, following a search for the suspected gunman throughout the morning that had residents on edge.

The suspect, Brian Kelly, 28, a Marine Corps veteran, surrendered to police outside his apartment after about 30 police officers and a SWAT team surrounded the home and cordoned off the area, from Delaware to Minnesota avenues, south of West Beech Street.

Police negotiated with Kelly before he surrendered “peacefully” just before 10 a.m., Long Beach Police Commissioner Mike Tangney said.

“It was a pretty quick resolution,” he said of the negotiations with Kelly. “We knew where he was, we set up a perimeter a distance away so as not to alarm him — and we were ready to make our move. We moved in carefully but forcefully, and he realized the best decision was to surrender.”

According to Tangney, the shooting occurred at 4:18 a.m. at Wisconsin and West Beech streets, near J.W. Trainor’s bar.

“When officers arrived, they found a male victim with two gunshot wounds,” Tangney said at a press conference in front LBPD headquarters.

The victim, a Long Beach resident whose name was not released, was taken to Nassau University Medical Center where he underwent emergency surgery. He is listed in stable condition and Tangney said that his wounds are not life-threatening.

“He’s expected to make a full recovery,” Tangney said. “But he is on a respirator at this time for medical reasons.”

The shooting prompted a massive search for the gunman that included a fully armed Nassau County Bureau of Special Operations SWAT team with at least four armored vehicles and a helicopter unit.

“Following an immediate response and investigation of the scene and its surroundings, the shooter was identified and the location of the shooter was determined,” Tangney said. “A perimeter was established and a tactical police response was enacted to extricate the shooter from his residence.”

Tangney said a hostage negotiator was brought in to communicate with Kelly, a longtime Long Beach resident who lives at 20 Wyoming Ave. He surrendered at 9:55 a.m.

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