Cops Kill Knife-Wielding Suspect

A former Long Beach High School baseball star was shot and killed in Point Lookout early Tuesday morning during a confrontation with police after he allegedly charged at them with a knife, Nassau County police said.

Kurt Doerbecker, 23, of Point Lookout, a LBHS graduate, was gunned down when he confronted officers in his parents’ backyard, officials said.

One of the Nassau County police officers fired his service revolver three times, striking Doerbecker once in the head.

“To protect his life and the life of the other officers, he had a right to shoot the subject,” said Lt. Kevin Smith, a county police spokesman.

Smith said reports he received indicate Doerbecker was in a “full sprint” at the officers, brandishing the knife above his head. Doerbecker ended up less than 10 feet from the officers when the fatal shot was fired, Smith said.

But William Petrillo, a family attorney, said the events surrounding the shooting raise “serious questions.”

“The actions by police prior to and subsequent to the shooting are disturbing,” said Petrillo.

Police received a 911 call for a disturbance at the Buoy Bar on Bayside Drive at 10:23 p.m. Monday and learned that Doerbecker had been forced to leave the bar two times and returned a third time, continuing to alarm patrons and creating a disturbance, authorities said.

Nassau police then received a report of a possible burglary on Lynbrook Drive at 11:55 p.m., when the homeowner, who was inside with one of her children, said she heard a noise, investigated and observed a man in her home holding a weapon or tool. She then yelled to the man to get out, forcing him to flee.

A police investigation led cops to Doerbecker’s residence on Bayside Drive, where they spoke to his father and requested that his son come out of the house. After police negotiations with the father and son, the door to the home was closed on the officers.

Fourth Precinct police officers continued to surround the home and a short time later, the son crawled out of a ground-floor window on the north side of the home.

Three county police officers, who were stationed on that side of the building, spotted Doerbecker, who then allegedly approached them in a threatening manner, brandishing what appeared to be 12-inch kitchen knife, police said. This prompted one of the officers to fire at him in the rear yard, and he as pronounced dead at the scene at 2:45 a.m., police said.

Smith said it appears the shooting was justifiable. He said officers, “when it is reasonable and necessary,” can use deadly physical force when they are threatened with deadly physical force.

Petrillo said police clearly overreacted following the alleged burglary. He said a SWAT team with upwards of 40 officers surrounded the Doerbecker home with high-intensity lights and K-9 dogs, “all to investigate an alleged attempted burglary.”

“He was forced out of his house in fear,” said Petrillo.

Smith strongly disputed family accounts that Doerbecker was unarmed and the home was surrounded by a SWAT team.

Attempts to contact the family were not successful.