Gunman on the run

Police were still searching Wednesday for a gunman who they say shot and killed a man in Long Beach on Monday afternoon.

According to Nassau County homicide detectives, a man shot Ernest Cummings, 46, of Long Beach, outside 19 E. Hudson St., the home of his girlfriend, at about 3:34 p.m.

When Long Beach police officers arrived at the scene, they found Cummings lying in front of the house with a gunshot wound. The Long Beach Police Department handed the primary investigation over to Nassau County police, and detectives said they could provide no further information on the investigation as the Herald went to press on Wednesday.

"There is nothing I can give out right now," said Detective Sgt. Richard Laursen of the county's Homicide Squad. "Once the autopsy is done, then I can give out some more information."

Long Beach police said this was the first shooting homicide in the city since 1997.

An East Hudson Street resident, who declined to give his name, told the Herald he knew both Cummings and the suspected gunman, whom he identified as a 19-year-old who lived in the neighborhood. "I didn't hear no arguing, but then I left in my car and I seen the kid outside at his car before the shooting," the resident said. "To my knowledge, the guy that got shot said that [the gunman's] dogs were weak or something like that. The kid that shot him, he doesn't have it all in his brain. He's a little nuts."

The resident said he had sometimes seen the two men talking. "I still can't put together why he would shoot him over that," he said. " ... I can't see the kid walking up to his house and shooting him in front of his house over dogs. It had to be something else."

The resident said he often saw Cummings walking his pit bulls on a leash on their block. "He was like an old G in the neighborhood," the resident said of Cummings. "You go to talk to him for information or advice."

City Manager Charles Theofan said that police told him "that the person who was shot was someone not known to the police to be a bad guy, that they thought he was a pretty nice fellow, and that the person who did the shooting is someone who [could] be as young as 18 and that he is somebody who has been of interest to police for various things."

Theofan added that the police are "pretty sure that the initial report of him being seen getting into a car and driving away are accurate and that he's not in town."

Asked why Long Beach police handed the investigation over to the county, Theofan said, "To some extent — you know what, I'm not even going to say jurisdiction, because to the best of my knowledge it is still a Long Beach case."

On Tuesday evening, the Cummings family held a vigil outside the house where he was shot that was attended by many members of the neighborhood. James Hodge, community member and advocate, said Cummings was well liked by his neighbors. "He was a nice guy to everybody," he said adding that he always showed respect to everyone he encountered. Very often, Hodge said, Cummings would visit him at the Long Beach Animal shelter to assist with the dogs.

Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.