Farmingville Shooter Kicked In Door, Killed 3, Left Baby Unharmed: Police

FARMINGVILLE, NY — At least one gunman kicked in a door, forcing his way inside of a Long Island apartment, and shot dead a man and two women, but left an infant less than a year old unharmed, Suffolk County police said Friday afternoon.

Homicide Squad chief Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer said police responded to the Overlook Drive home in Farmingville at about noon after a relative called 911, alerting them that they went to check on them and believed them to be dead.

Officers found Richard Castano, 31, and Diamond Schick, 24, both residents of the house, and Nyasia Knox, 20, of Georgia, dead from gunshot wounds, police said.

Police did not say what room the infant was in at the time of the shooting and noted the child is at the hospital waiting for relatives.

Investigators have initially determined someone possibly kicked in the door to the apartment and broke the doorjamb to gain access inside, Beyrer said. It is not clear if the shooting was targeted.

Police said the victims’ backgrounds will help them make that determination.

Police closed off the street where the apartment was located, as family members and neighbors watched police continue their investigation. Two women getting out of a car identified themselves as family members, and one of them told a reporter that she was not supposed to speak to anyone.

Newsday reported that Jacqueline Wiggins, a family friend, learned of the deaths from her son. She told the outlet the couple inside the home were young and about to get married, and that both of the women were mothers.

“There is a lot of heartbreak here,” she said, adding, “Everyone is hurting. They were just trying to live their lives, so they didn’t deserve this. I don’t know why this happened.”

CBS Radio's Sophia Hall reported that the infant was the couple's child.

A neighbor, who did not want to be identified, said the apartment complex has been relatively quiet and shocked by the incident. She said she was on her way home from McDonald’s when she saw a squadron of police vehicles “flying by” headed down the roadway with sirens blaring passing her car.

When she got home at 12:15 p.m., there was “tons of cops.”

Another neighbor, who has lived in the complex for 12 years, declined to be identified, said she returned home from the gym to see the police scene unfolding before her eyes. She said there have been other incidents at the complex in the past that have made her feel uneasy and now she does not feel safe walking outside her own home at night.

“It’s crazy; nobody wants to talk,” she said.

The shooting was the second fatal incident in the area in a matter of hours. A woman was found stabbed to death in Holtsville on Thursday night.

The shooting was the fourth fatal one in Suffolk County since last weekend when two people were shot within hours of each other in West Babylon and Amityville. A man was also killed in Wyandanch Wednesday morning. A total of six people have been killed altogether.

In total, there have been six shootings, including one in Center Moriches on Sunday and another in Holbrook on Tuesday, in which the victims survived.

Detectives are continuing to investigate. They are asking anyone with information to call the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392 or call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.