Kyle Cronin, of Lake Grove, was arrested for running around Raynor Park in Lake Ronkonkoma with a gun.
Suffolk County Police received a phone call around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 8, which sparked the search for the suspect.
Cronin, who is 20 years old, was caught on Lake Terrace Road with a revolver (pictured top right) on his person.
A further search of Cronin’s Lake Grove home on Walnut Street revealed that Cronin also had an AR-15 (pictured right).
Raynor Park sits on the Brookhaven side of Lake Ronkonkoma. Previously owned by George Raynor, who erected many pavilions for vacationers in the 1920s, the 15-acre park is now ranked No. 11 of 35 parks in Suffolk County, and No. 104 out of 578 Parks in New York, according to the county website. The park not only offers a ton of outdoor recreation, but also a tranquil nature preserve.
Dominated by two huge baseball fields, Raynor Park also sports a soccer field, two play areas for children (although one is nearly unusable), tennis courts, a basketball court, handball courts, picnic areas, chess playing stations, a stage for summer concerts, a Veterans memorial, a concession stand with bathrooms and a paved walkway through a wooded area.
Beautiful Lake Ronkonkoma imagery can be seen throughout various spots in the park. In fact, when entering the park from Pond Road, the original steps to a former popular 1920s hotel are still used to enter Raynor Park.
“It’s crazy to me that this happened,” said Joanna Gattuso, a Ronkonkoma native. “I grew up here. This is the park I played in even before it was renovated. I still bring my kids there all the time. To think that this happened in the middle of the day, on a weekend, the whole thing is just crazy. You have to see it over there in the summer too, tons of sports games going on, people walking through the woods part over there and all the kids on the playground or in the courts. I just thank God this guy was caught and I hope to hear nothing like this happening around here again.”
Cronin is being charged with Criminal Possession of a Firearm and will appear in front of a judge by the end of the month.
