A top Long Island equestrian rider was shot to death Tuesday night when a gunman opened fire through the window of the victim’s suburban Suffolk County home, authorities said.
Ross Reisner, 50, was inside his manicured East Setauket home with his longtime partner, Kevin Murray, at 8:45 p.m. when the killer fired several shots.
Reisner was struck once in the chest and later died at Stony Brook University Hospital, while Murray was grazed by a bullet and refused medical treatment.
Suffolk cops are looking to question a former roommate in connection with the shooting, but the man has not been named as a suspect.
A relative said that the couple had a vicious falling-out with the man two years ago and that the jilted pal once even sent a dead bird to them in anger.
“[He] had some sort of psychotic break,” the relative said. “Ross and Kevin had called the police on him. It got very bad.”
The roommate was arrested for criminal contempt in 2010, a police source said.
Cops believe that the shooter crept through the side yard and was able to spy on the men through a window before firing.
A neighbor, Michelle O’Toole, said she heard Murray screaming as cops arrived.
“I could hear someone yelling, ‘Oh, my God, please help him, please!’
“I heard the shots,” she said. “There was one and then a pause and then a bunch more. It’s just really sad. They are both very kind people, very nice.”
The murder rocked the area’s large equestrian community.
Reisner, who helped train star riders for decades, was a constant presence at major equestrian events, such as the Hampton Classic.
“We are all completely shocked,” said Kalyn Fogarty, a fellow equestrian.
Reisner’s business partner, Billy Ginsberg, said he was stunned by the killing, and added that Reisner had been thriving recently in his riding endeavors.
“I never thought I would lose my friend in this way,” he said. “Ross would just light up a room wherever he went. I’m shocked.”
Reisner and Murray, a contractor, had lived in the handsome Setauket home for years and expanded the structure in 2009.
Murray was inconsolable yesterday after losing the love of his life.
“He’s destroyed by this,” said one friend.
With additional reporting by Candace Amos
