On the night of March 12, 2011, 40-year-old Nassau County Police Officer Geoffrey Breitkopf, a 12-year veteran assigned to the Bureau of Special Operations, was fatally shot in Massapequa Park during a chaotic response to a separate violent incident. Officers had been pursuing 21-year-old Anthony DiGeronimo, who was reported to be running through the neighborhood armed with several knives and who barricaded himself inside his parents’ home. DiGeronimo charged at officers and was shot and killed by police.

Shortly afterward Breitkopf, in plainclothes and carrying a rifle, arrived as backup. An MTA Police officer, later identified as Glenn Gentile, mistook Breitkopf for an armed suspect and fired one shot that struck him. Breitkopf died at Nassau University Medical Center. A Nassau County District Attorney investigation later concluded the MTA officer reasonably believed Breitkopf was a threat and declined to file criminal charges. Breitkopf’s widow later pursued a wrongful-death lawsuit that was settled confidentially in October 2015.

Did anyone in Massapequa Park witness how officers identified themselves that night or recall details from the immediate scene?