Elmont man slain in own home

Police in the 5th Precinct are still searching for suspects and a possible motive in a homicide that occurred on Jacob Street last Friday in Elmont.

According to information released by police, officers received a 911 call at around 9:20 p.m. in which the caller reported hearing gunshots from a residence in the area.

Officers responded to the scene minutes later, and found 26-year-old Richard Herbert dead of a gunshot wound in his apartment. According to published reports, Herbert, whose family is from Queens, was renting a first-floor apartment in a house on Jacob Street, where he was killed.

The home is just south of Hempstead Turnpike, near several local landmarks, including the Elmont Library and the Sewanhaka School District sports fields.

Neither the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad nor precinct detectives were prepared to release information about the investigation as the Herald went to press on Monday. A police spokeswoman said that information was still being gathered on the nature of the crime and a possible motive.

According to published reports, witnesses said they saw a dark-colored car driving quickly away from the scene after the shooting, but little other information was immediately available.

Based on statistics released by the 5th Precinct, the homicide was the second in Elmont this year. While the number of violent crimes, including rape and murder, has stayed roughly the same as last year in the precinct, robberies and burglaries have jumped in the area, some by as much as 57 percent.

Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to call the Nassau County Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 244-TIPS (8477).

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