Cops: Shooting Victim Targeted

A Tuesday night shooting in Setauket that left a man dead was not a random act of violence and was not a drive-by shooting, Suffolk County police said Wednesday.

Multiple gunshots were fired into the home on Upper Sheep Pasture Road, and 50-year-old Ross Reisner was struck in the chest. A bullet grazed a second victim, as well, police said.

“Given the nature of the crime scene ... we believe these victims were targeted,” Detective Lt. Jack Fitzpatrick, commanding officer of the homicide squad, said during a press briefing Wednesday afternoon.

Fitzpatrick declined to identify the second victim – a man who refused medical attention – but said he was a resident of the home. Reisner’s friends said he lived there with his longtime partner Kevin Murray.

“These individuals who were struck yesterday were targeted. It was clear that the person was firing at them, and was capable of seeing them from the position they took,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick declined to discuss the evidence – specifically, he avoided the question of whether a murder weapon has been recovered – and declined to discuss a motive, saying only that “all options would be on the table at the moment.”

“It’s still early on,” he said. “We’re looking to find out a lot more information than we currently have.”

Shots were fired through a side window and the shooter, or shooters, fled the property on foot, Fitzpatrick said. It is unknown whether a vehicle was involved.

Reisner was known as an accomplished equestrian who recently established Maple Lane Farm in Mattituck with a business partner. Fitzpatrick said Reisner may have also been involved in a construction business.