Man found dead in Lake Ronkonkoma home of apparent self-inflicted wound after gunfire exchange with officer, police say

A Lake Ronkonkoma man was found dead inside his home Wednesday morning, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, shortly after he exchanged gunfire with a Suffolk County police officer, authorities said.

Officers had responded to the Wiggins Street residence shortly before 9 a.m. after receiving a report of an intoxicated and suicidal man with a handgun inside, police said.

Moments after officers arrived on the scene, Pedro Laureano, 55, exited the home and exchanged gunshots with an officer, police said.

He then retreated and barricaded himself in the home. Police said "a short while later," officers heard gunfire from inside.

Emergency Service Section officers entered the home and found Laureano dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.

Details of the incident, including whether there was anyone else in the home with Laureano, were not provided by the police.

At the scene Wednesday afternoon, police had cordoned the quiet neighborhood with yellow caution tape. At least eight Suffolk County police cruisers at the scene were accompanied by a command-post vehicle.

Several neighbors described hearing a disturbance and as many as five gunshots. 

Billy Schaefer, who has lived on Wiggins Street for eight years, said he heard the gunshots and saw police attempting to break into the residence.

He described Laureano as a friendly neighbor who would always say hello.

“I’m shocked. He was a nice guy,” Schaefer said. “I mean, it's Christmastime; you don't want to hear it.”

Another neighbor said the gunshots woke her up, but she fell back asleep thinking the sounds came from a backfiring vehicle. She later heard police call out Laureano's name for about a half hour, asking him to come out.

Debbie Diotaiuti, whose daughter and son-in-law live on the block, was surprised to hear the news.

“It’s sad,” she said.

Suffolk County Homicide Squad detectives are investigating, and the New York State Attorney General’s Office has been notified.

Since April 2021, the attorney general’s Office of Special Investigations has been required by law to investigate when a law enforcement officer's actions, or lack thereof, may have led to someone's death.