Suspect in Custody After Townwide Manhunt

Update, 4:15 p.m.: East Hampton Town police identified Valon Shoshi, a 28-year-old living in Springs, as the armed man they took into custody earlier on Friday after a three-hour search. Charges have not been filed, as police continue to sort out the details, Capt. Chris Anderson said.

He said Friday afternoon that detectives are still actively investigating what caused Mr. Shoshi to shoot a family member with a shotgun in the house where he lived on Gardiner Avenue in Springs, before he fled. Captain Anderson would not say whether the victim, who suffered minor injuries, was a man or woman.

Captain Anderson would not comment on how Mr. Shoshi was found, but said that police had broadcast a description of the vehicle he was believed to be driving.

Mr. Shoshi was armed when police apprehended him in front of One Stop Market. "We did recover a weapon at the time of his arrest," Captain Anderson said, though he would not comment on whether it was the same shotgun as the one fired at Mr. Shoshi's family member.

"We are actively investigating the whole situation," Captain Anderson said. "We are not drawing any conclusions at this point."

Mr. Shoshi is the former assistant chief of the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association. Late last year, after moving back to his native Kosovo for a year and half, he suffered a gunshot wound himself. He told The East Hampton Star after his injury that he was shot in the abdomen by a pair of assailants he said he did not recognize.

Mr. Shoshi came came to the United States with his family as a 13-year-old in 1999, during the Kosovo War. He began volunteering with the East Hampton Village Ambulance Association in 2005, becoming an advanced life support provider and an instructor with Suffolk County.

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Previous Coverage:

After a nearly three-hour search for an armed man in East Hampton Town and Village, police converged, guns drawn, on a black Cadillac on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton Friday at 12:41 p.m. and ordered the driver to surrender.

East Hampton Town Police Capt. Chris Anderson was heard saying over the police radio that the gunman had been surrounded in front of One Stop Market. “He has been asked to step out of the car, and keep his hands out,” the captain informed police involved in the search. Shortly thereafter, an officer announced that “the subject is in custody, and in cuffs.”

Police have not yet released the name of the man, who they said had been described as “armed, violent, and suicidal.” He had allegedly fired a shotgun in a house on Gardiner Avenue in Springs Friday morning, and “made threats against other family members,” according to village police. According to East Hampton Town police, one victim suffered minor injuries and was transported to Southampton Hospital. "This subject had also previously been involved in an incident that is being investigated by the East Hampton Town Police," according to the village release. 

After firing the shot, the suspect drove off. The manhunt that ensued involved police from the town and village as well as from Sag Harbor Village, Southampton Town and Village, Suffolk County, Southold and Riverhead Towns, and New York State.

Local schools were placed on lockdown, or “lock-out” as the schools referred to it in an email to parents, during the manhunt, with police giving the “all clear” at about 12:50, according to the email to parents. The East Hampton Village police tweeted, “Local schools were put on lockout precaution as local police were attempting to locate a despondent subject - situation has been resolved,” at 1:12 p.m.

Initially, police surrounded a house in the area of Georgica Road in East Hampton Village, believing the suspect had locked himself inside. “Give me as many of our guys as you can,” a police officer was overheard saying on the radio at 11:14 a.m. The response was swift and massive, with tactically trained officers from nine police departments joining in. Suffolk County Police deployed a hostage negotiation team to the site. Two joint tactical units entered the house, but the search proved fruitless.

Police then continued their search for the black late-model Cadillac sports car the suspect was reportedly driving, which was soon spotted headed north on Abraham's Path in East Hampton. After a brief pursuit he was arrested in front of the small shoppping complex.