Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Gary Jones
Age : 38
Gender : Male
Race : Black
Date : 08/22/2023
Location : Ticonderoga Court
City : Ridge
County : Suffolk
State : New York
Agency : Suffolk County Police Department
Officer(s) :Unknown
Cause of Death : Gunshot
Event : Suicide under police duress
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On 08/22/2023, at approximately 8:30 p.m., Suffolk County Police Department homicide detectives went to a residence on Ticonderoga Court in Ridge while investigating the June 19 killing of 39-year-old Shayna Staton in Central Islip. Police identified Staton's boyfriend, 38-year-old Gary Jones of North Amityville, as the person they were seeking in connection with her death.
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Detectives initially interviewed a friend of Jones who lived at the Ticonderoga Court residence. The friend told detectives that Jones was inside. Police directed the friend, children and other people in the residence to leave before detectives attempted to enter.
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According to Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison, police alleged that Jones emerged from a room carrying a handgun and fired multiple rounds toward the detectives. The detectives retreated from the residence and did not return fire.
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Three of the rounds fired from the residence penetrated the wall of an adjoining apartment. One bullet struck 3-year-old Lovely Toney, who had recently gotten out of the bath and was on a couch inside her family's home. The bullet passed through her hand and abdomen, injuring her wrist and liver.
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Lovely's father carried his bleeding daughter outside to police. Suffolk County Police Officer Christian Hernandez and Detective Louis Cabrera provided emergency aid and transported her for medical treatment. She underwent surgery and survived.
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Police surrounded the residence while Jones remained barricaded inside and summoned hostage negotiators and the Emergency Services Unit. The confrontation continued for approximately three hours.
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Emergency Services officers eventually deployed a police robot into the residence. The robot located Jones dead inside from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police confirmed that officers had not fired their weapons during the encounter.
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Investigators recovered a 9mm handgun with Jones. Police reported that the weapon was the same caliber as the firearm used in Staton's June killing and subsequently said ballistic evidence linked the recovered weapon to that homicide. Jones had prior arrests for robbery, felony drug possession and grand larceny auto.
