Decision Made in Trial for Huntington Station Man Accused of Shooting Officer

The jury made a decision Tuesday in the case of the 23-year-old Huntington Station man accused of shooting a plainclothes police officer and causing him serious injures in March last year.

Sheldon Leftenant, an alleged street gang member, was found guilty of aggravated murder, second degree criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest, according to Newsday.

He could be sentenced to 40 years to life in prison at his sentencing on March 11, the publication reports.

On March 12, 2015, Officer Mark Collins, a decorated 13-year veteran, was in an unmarked police vehicle when he pulled over a car with four people inside. As Collins and two other officers approached the vehicle, a man inside the car got out and confronted Collins, shooting him twice, once in the neck and once in the hip, police said.

Leftenant was arrested a few hours later, about a block from the traffic stop, following a massive police search. His trial began Jan. 19.

Collins, 35, was in a drug-induced coma at the hospital and was released after a three-day hospitalization. He has since returned to work.

Image via SCPD