On the evening of November 7, 2023 a dispute between two longtime friends on the Poospatuck Reservation in Mastic, New York, ended in a deadly shooting. The victim was identified as 45-year-old Umar Elquhir of North Bellport. The incident began with a physical altercation between Elquhir and his friend James Brown; Elquhir left but returned about two hours later and parked outside Brown’s residence.

Surveillance footage from a nearby smoke shop shows Brown leaving his home, approaching Elquhir’s vehicle and firing about nine shots into the car while Elquhir sat in the driver’s seat. Elquhir was struck multiple times, opened his car door, collapsed, and was taken to Long Island Community Hospital in Patchogue, where he was pronounced dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Suffolk County Police investigated and arrested James Brown on November 20, 2023; he was indicted on charges including second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Prosecutors said Elquhir was unarmed at the time of the shooting.

Did anyone on the reservation or in North Bellport see or hear anything that night that might add detail to what happened?