Man Fatally Shot Inside North Bay Shore Home
NORTH BAY SHORE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Police are searching for a suspect who killed a man inside his home in Suffolk County.
Investigators said the suspect was fumbling with the lock at the home on North Gardiner Drive in North Bay Shore Friday night when a child inside the home opened the door.
Police said 41-year-old James Creekmore returned home around 9:55 p.m. and was shot by the suspect upon entering the residence, CBS2's Ilana Gold reported. The suspect then fled the scene without taking anything.
Creekmore was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the medical examiner's office, police said.
Creekmore's girlfriend, Patience Daniels, fell to the ground as she cried uncontrollably, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.
"Terrible, it's wrong, it's wrong, I swear, I can't, it's so wrong," she cried.
Daniels said one of the children answered the door around 10 p.m., only to see a stranger march in.
"Why? And he did it in front of his kids," she added.
Police told Gold there were a number of children home when the shooting happened.
Sources told Hall the murder happened in front of Creekmore's three children -- a 4-year-old and 16-year-old twins.
"We have a 4-year-old. And she saw everything, and she said, 'My Daddy's in my heart,'" Creekmore's girlfriend said.
"I have to tell my 4-year-old her father will never play with her again," Daniels said.
As CBS2's Steve Langford reported Saturday evening, police say they believe the 42-year-old was targeted.
Sources told 1010 WINS' Derricke Dennis it was not a random attack and that the gunman may have known someone in the home.
Neighbors are stunned by the shooting, Dennis reported.
"He opened the door and whatever happened, happened. It's just shocking," neighbor Rosetta said.
"She was saying don't let the little girl see him like that," neighbor Robert Rodriguez said.
"I heard screaming, hysterical screaming," another neighbor told Langford.
Right now, investigators are trying to determine who the suspect is and why they went after Creekmore.
The father of the victim's girlfriend wondered about the violence that hit his family, saying, "I think we ought to stop making guns. When are we going to wake up?"
As the investigation continues, detectives are urging anyone with information to contact the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392 or call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.
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