The suspected gunman that Nassau County police officers shot and wounded in Albertson on Wednesday morning was later found to have pointed a BB gun at the officers, authorities said.
A 22-year-old man called 911 after one of his neighbors on Netz Place, Brian Reilly, 56, allegedly pointed what appeared to be a handgun at the victim before walking away without saying a word, police said.
When responding officers arrived, they quickly spotted Reilly walking nearby and ordered him to show his hands, but the suspect pulled out what officers believed was a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at the officers, police said.
The officers fired three shots, hitting Reilly once in each leg and once in his right hand, police said. He was taken to Winthrop University Hospital for treatment of non-life threatening gunshot wounds.
Investigators later learned that the weapon Reilly threatened the officers with was a black BB handgun.
Reilly is charged with menacing, menacing a police officer and possession of a dangerous weapon. He will be arraigned as soon as practical, police said.
Homicide Squad detectives are continuing the investigation. The case is the second police-involved shooting in five weeks.
Officers shot and killed 30-year-old Dalton Smith, who police have said was committing a home invasion near Hofstra University on May 17.
Andrea Rebello, a 21-year-old Westchester woman and Hofstra student that police said Smith had in a headlock and was threatening to kill at the time, was also accidentally shot by the same police officer.
