WSHA Honors Actions of 7th Precinct Officers in Recent Bellmore Shooting

Three Nassau County police officers that responded to the scene of a crazed gunman who had a Bellmore firefighter last month were honored by a local civic group for their bravery.

The (WSHA) gave a citation to responding officers Mike Schneider, Dean Reiter and Paul Caiaccia at the organization’s March 29 meeting at . Reiter and Caiaccia are police officers while Schneider is with the county’s canine unit from the Highway Patrol Bureau.

The officers arrived at the March 1 crime scene shortly after Bellmore firefighter Justin Angell had been transported to Nassau University Medical Center as a result of being shot by 31-year-old Jason Beller of Commack, who was described by police as "a man that was armed to commit mayhem.” According to police officials, the gunman was focused on the two Seventh Precinct officers when Schneider crept up along the passenger side of the suspect’s vehicle and opened fire on him. Beller was pronounced dead at the scene.

“In a kind of quiet precinct on a routine Tuesday night this is not the kind of thing that you expect to happen and it’s not the type of situation that any police officer wants to be involved in or that the majority are ever involved in,” said Seventh Precinct Commanding Officer Inspector Mary Blanthorn during the March 29 meeting while describing the actions of the officers. “Thank goodness the police officers in the county are well trained, well equipped and certainly put that to good use that night and had they not acted the way they did it is unknown what the consequences could have been.”

WSHA president Ella Stevens expressed her gratitude for the actions of the responding officers on March 1 and what the entire Seventh Precinct does to keep the area safe. The March 29 meeting also featured a presentation by Seventh Precinct Problem Oriented Policing officers Gary Fujarski and Janet Gallagher on how people can best protect themselves from dangerous situations and what to look out for.

"The Wantagh Seaford Homeowners' Association is very grateful to the Seventh precinct for all that they do to protect our communities from harm,” said Stevens. “Their bravery and courage are second to none and we are indeed fortunate to have them as our neighbors."