POLICE ACCIDENTALLY SHOOT MAN TO DEATH IN DRUG RAID

BELLPORT - A 20-year-old man was accidentally shot to death by a police
officer during a raid at a Long Island house, police said.

Suffolk County police said the shooting took place as emergency services
workers executed a search warrant in Bellport, where authorities suspected
drug dealing and weapons.

As the officers moved toward the house during the raid Friday, one officer
tripped over a tree root and fell forward into the lead officer, who
accidentally discharged his weapon, according to Philip Robilotto, chief of
the Suffolk County Police Department.

The man, identified as Jose Colon, was standing near the front door of the
house and was struck in the head, police said. "I'm here to offer my
condolences to the family," Robilotto said during a news conference. "It
was a tragedy. It was an accident."

Police said officers found about one pound of marijuana and a loaded
semiautomatic rifle in the house.