Cops: Teen shot dead near Freeport Yacht Club

Gunfire at a "gathering" near the Freeport Yacht Club left a teenager dead Saturday morning, according to Nassau County police.

Authorities did not release the slain teen's name, but his family identified him as village resident Shaqueil Reese, 19.

Officers responding to a call of shots fired found the teen about 1:25 a.m. outside the club, 533 Guy Lombardo Ave. -- about a block from Freeport's Nautical Mile -- said Det. Lt. John Azzata, head of the county police homicide squad.

"There was some type of gathering" involving the teen, his friends and others, which erupted into a "confrontation," Azzata said.

About an hour after the shooting, the teen was declared dead at the hospital, he said.

No arrests have been made.

Azzata did not offer a motive for the slaying but he said detectives were exploring "all avenues."

Later Saturday, a police dog trained to find gun powder and firearms was sniffing around the crime scene.

"This was a shooting, and we're looking for a weapon," Azzata said.

The teen's grief-stricken father, Theodore Reese, choked up as he recalled viewing his son's body at the county's hospital-and-morgue complex Saturday.

"I couldn't believe that's my son laying there. He was just laying there," he said.

Hours earlier, he'd been jolted awake by a phone call about a shooting. He searched the family's home but didn't see the teen, he said Saturday.

The teen's mom was in disbelief that her son is dead, he said.

"She still don't believe it's her son," he said. "She asked me, 'Are you sure it's him?' "

Reese's cousin, Tamika Lanzey-McCallum, 27, said Reese was outside a house party when he was shot.

"I hope they arrest them and take the guns off the street," she said.

Theodore Reese spent Saturday receiving visitors expressing their condolences for Shaqueil, his youngest.

"I just want them to catch the guy," the elder Reese said. "We're just hurting right now."

With Candice Ferrette and Kevin Deutsch