New surveillance video in 2014 shooting of Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius

Kristin Thorne Image
Thursday, February 25, 2016
New surveillance video in 2014 shooting of Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius
Kristin Thorne is live on Long Island with the details.

HUNTINGTON, Long Island (WABC) -- Suffolk police shared new information Thursday in the Long Island shooting of Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius two years ago, a case remains unsolved. And now, the FBI is getting involved.

A portion of surveillance video taken the day Melius was shot in 2014 was released, but many are asking why now? New Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Sini says it's part of his top-to-bottom assessment of the department and the desire to take a fresh look at some of the more significant cases, and that this case is significant not because it involves the owner of Oheka Castle, but because whoever shot him in the face is dangerous and still on the loose.

Surveillance video from February 2014 shows Melius walking to his car in the employee parking lot of Oheka Castle when the gunman exits his car and fires at least one shot through Melius' driver-side window. The bullet struck Melius in the face, and the suspect ran away.

Eyewitness News reporter Kristin Thorne posted the full video on her Facebook page:

Melius survived the attack, and he has put $100,000 of his own money toward a reward to find the perpetrator.

Suffolk County police also announced that they've decided to bring the FBI on board to help with the investigation.

"We look forward to working with the FBI to bring this case to a close," Sini said. "We don't have someone in handcuffs. That's not acceptable. So just like in Gilgo, we're bringing on the FBI, and we're doing other things in the Gilgo case we didn't do previously to move that case along. We're doing that here as well. That includes bringing the FBI on, and that includes releasing this video."

Melius didn't want to speak on camera about the release of the surveillance video, but he told Eyewitness News in a statement that, "I am glad the Suffolk County police have finally decided to release the surveillance video to the public. Hopefully, it will prompt anyone who has information to come forward and shed new light into the investigation."

Anyone with information about the identity of the suspect in the video is asked to call Suffolk County police at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls are confidential.