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Surge Of Violence Has Central Islip On Edge

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A sudden surge of gun violence has residents of one Long Island community on edge.

Three gunshot killings in two days has residents in a normally quiet Central Islip neighborhood worried.

Police suspect two of the shootings are related to possible gang activity.

Surge Of Violence Has Central Islip On Edge

In the first incident, 21-year-old Derrick Mayes was found shot to death on Wilson Boulevard around 11:35 p.m. Sunday, police said.

In the second incident, 21-year-old Keenan Russell was found shot on Acorn Avenue after a party at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. He died later at a hospital.

Around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, a man was found shot to death in a rooming house on Clayton Avenue, police said. The victim's name has not been released.

Many residents in the area are troubled by the violence.

"I don't feel safe, you know. Like I come in the morning every day before I go to work and I know a lot of people walking around the street, but it's getting bad," one man told WCBS 880 Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs.

Others told Xirinachs that the neighborhood had been a quiet one until recently. Some spoke of obvious drug activity going on.

Suffolk County Police, in the meantime, are asking anyone with knowledge of the shootings to contact them at 800-220-TIPS.

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