A Long Island father of two was fatally shot in a targeted attack at a North Bellport park, and a hospital lockdown followed when his friend fought police at the ER.

Lonnie Booker, 43, was shot in the chest around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Robert Rowley Park in North Bellport. He was rushed three miles to NYU Langone-Suffolk in East Patchogue and pronounced dead.

The Post reported that Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina said Booker and the shooter knew each other. Surveillance cameras captured the suspect fleeing in a red sedan. Catalina said the killing appears to be a targeted attack. No arrests have been made in the shooting. Detectives are asking the public for tips through the Suffolk County Police Department’s Homicide Squad. The investigation remains open.

Booker was the first person shot in the Fifth Precinct this year. Catalina put the stakes plainly: one homicide victim is one too many, and one shooting victim is one too many. Families on Long Island keep paying the price when violence reaches ordinary public spaces.

Friends and relatives gathered later at the park and set up a memorial. Earl Parker, Booker’s cousin, spoke about the loss.

Parker said:

"My cousin was an outstanding guy, and boom, he shouldn’t have died like that,"

Friend’s hospital fight triggers temporary lockdown

After the shooting, Booker’s friend Emmanuel Mayo, 37, followed him to the hospital. Police said Mayo pushed an officer while trying to enter, then resisted when officers moved to arrest him. He was charged with second-degree harassment and resisting arrest.

Police and hospital staff barred visitors from the building until order was restored. An NYU Langone spokesperson described the step as temporary and limited to the emergency department.

The spokesperson said:

"Temporary visitor restrictions to the emergency department were implemented last night as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of our staff, patients, and visitors,"

The same spokesperson added that patient care was not disrupted, clinical services continued as normal, and the hospital is fully cooperating with the Suffolk County Police Department. Hospitals should not have to freeze visitor access because a confrontation spills from the street into the ER.

Local violence keeps forcing public institutions into emergency mode, much like the scrutiny that followed a sudden Montauk fatality investigation that drew intense attention to response details.

Park already drew enforcement one week earlier

Exactly one week before Booker was killed, police took seven people into custody for trespassing at Robert Rowley Park after dark. Four were held on outstanding warrants. Three received field appearance tickets. Brookhaven Supervisor Dan Panico said the town had already invested heavily in the park, including security cameras, after neighbors complained about loitering after hours.

Cameras and prior sweeps did not stop a targeted shooting at the same location. Residents who want safe parks after dark deserve more than a cycle of complaints, citations, and then another crime scene. Similar public alarm has followed other high-profile cases, including weekend shootings that left multiple people dead and wounded in Chicago.

Catalina’s account leaves the core facts clear: the victim and the perpetrator knew each other, the attack looks targeted, and the suspect drove off in a red sedan caught on video. The Homicide Squad still needs the public’s help to close the case.

Long Island has seen other justice stories grab headlines, from a Long Island man arrested over alleged threats against a U.S. attorney to wider New York cases that test public safety. Booker’s death fits a simpler, grimmer pattern: a father of two gunned down in a neighborhood park, followed by disorder at the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

National attention also turns quickly when sudden deaths and threats dominate the news, as with the New York Harbor capsizing that killed a mother and her infant daughter. The through-line is the same demand for accountability and basic order.

When a known-target shooting empties a park and locks down a hospital ER, the public is right to expect arrests, answers, and parks that stay safe after dark.