MELVILLE, N.Y. _ The manner in which four young men were slain in a Central Islip park is "consistent with the modus operandi of MS-13," the notorious street gang responsible for a wave of violence that has terrorized the community and neighboring Brentwood, the Suffolk County police commissioner said Thursday.
"This is a long-term war," Commissioner Timothy Sini said. "We maintain our resolve. We will solve these murders."
The four homicide victims were all males _ two of them age 18, one 16, the other 20, Sini said.
Police found the victims Wednesday night, several hundred feet south of soccer fields at Central Islip Recreation Center, with "significant trauma throughout their body" and "it appears they were killed with a sharp or edged instrument," Sini said.
The homicides happened "within the past few days" and occurred at the park, Sini said. The victims have been tentatively identified, but those identifications are not definitive so police will not release them, Sini said.
The Police Department is working closely with the FBI and is offering a $25,000 "fast cash reward" _ in conjunction with Crime Stoppers _ for information leading to the arrest of suspects or suspects, Sini said.
The deaths fit the pattern of MS-13 but police "have not ruled out other possibilities at this point," Sini said.
FBI spokeswoman Amy Thoreson said in a statement that "the recent gang violence in the area is the Long Island Gang Task Force's No. 1 priority, and we are asking anyone with information about what happened to contact us at 631-501-8600."
The gruesome discovery comes six weeks after more than a half-dozen members of the MS-13 street gang "whose primary mission is murder" were indicted in the brutal killings of Kayla Cuevas, 16, Nisa Mickens, 15, and an MS-13 member, officials said.
Federal prosecutors said the MS-13 member, Jose Pena-Hernandez, 18, was killed because he was suspected of "violating the gang rules in several ways, including talking to law enforcement."
Suffolk County Legislator Monica Martinez, a Democrat who represents the area where the bodies were found Wednesday, said the latest homicides showed that "the disregard for human life is unfathomable."
"The disregard for the pain, fear and suffering the families and community will experience is uncalled for," she said in a message on Facebook. "Lives being lost, and for what? To what end?"
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., whose district includes Central Islip, sent a tweet about the latest homicides Thursday.
"Tragic discovery of 4 more bodies in Central Islip," King said. "These latest killings show need for full cooperation w Suffolk PD & fed law enforcement."
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said he was "outraged" about the homicides, adding that he has full confidence in the Suffolk Police Department to "do what is necessary to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice."
"These heinous acts will not go unpunished and our communities will not be intimidated by such cowardly violence," Bellone said in a statement.
Angelo Roefaro, a spokesman for Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the senator is "at the ready to assist local law enforcement with any request for federal assistance."
"We must make sure all levels of law enforcement are working in coordination to address unacceptable violence and crime," Roefaro said in a statement.
Asked if the Eastern District U.S. attorney's office, which has prosecuted numerous gang-related crimes on Long Island, is involved in the investigation, spokesman John Marzulli declined to comment.
Sini said that despite the recent arrests of MS-13 members in multiple homicides, "there's no question" the gang still exists. He has pledged to continue to work with the FBI and other agencies to pressure the several hundred MS-13 members who remain on the street.
Several people showed up at the Central Islip park Thursday concerned that their loves ones might be among those found dead.
William Tigre, 21, of Bellport, told reporters that he got a call from a friend at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday saying his brother, Jorge Tigre, 18, was at the park.
"He told me my brother was hurt ... He just told me, 'Quick your brother was there. I saw him there, and you've got to go there,' " Tigre said.
Tigre said he spoke to investigators at the scene, but did not get any information from them.
Jorge Tigre, of Bellport, was reported missing to Suffolk police at 3:28 p.m. Wednesday and police began searching for him at 3:36 p.m., police said Thursday.
Justin Llivicura, 16, of Bellport, was reported as a missing person to Suffolk police that same day at 7:08 p.m., and the police investigation began "within three minutes," police said.
Police are investigating both cases. They would not say whether either young man was among the homicide victims.
The September killings of Cuevas and Mickens led to the discovery of skeletal remains in and around the Pilgrim State Psychiatric Center: Three young men who also were killed by MS-13 gang members, police have said.
The remains of Oscar Acosta, 19, of Brentwood, and Miguel Garcia Moran, 15, of Brentwood, were found five days apart in September, officials said. The skeletal remains of Pena-Hernandez were found in October.
The killings of the Brentwood girls, who were found beaten with bats and machetes, shocked the community and resulted in Suffolk police conducting a monthslong sweep aimed at wiping out the street gang.
Four adult gang members _ two from Central Islip and two from Brentwood _ were charged specifically in the deaths of Cuevas and Mickens and have pleaded not guilty. The four men, who remain held without bail, potentially face the death penalty. Two other unnamed juveniles also were charged, according to court papers.
At least three other recent unsolved killings and disappearances of people in the area may also involve MS-13, sources have said.
Investigators believe the recent violence is related to the arrival in the Brentwood area of about a dozen members of MS-13 from Central America in their teens or early 20s, the sources have said.
King has said he hopes to invite President Donald Trump to Brentwood to see the impact of gang violence there.
Martinez said she was aware gangs were still active in the community, despite the recent arrests.
"Yes, there were arrests, but we knew this wasn't the end," Martinez said. "We knew we'd have to continue to bring resources in, continue policing the community. I know the Police Department hasn't let up on that."
Martinez said a constituent came into the office and knew one of the victims as family of a neighbor.
"Everyone's concerned," she said. "A small percentage is really hurting the whole. Those families who are working hard every single day to make ends meet."
