By John Valenti and Nicole Fuller
Newsday
SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. — A retired NYPD officer shot and wounded his two sons during a family argument at his home in North Bellport late Sunday, then shot and killed himself, Suffolk County police said.
The retired officer, identified as Irvin Noak, 61, was transported by South Country Ambulance to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue, where police said he was pronounced dead.
The sons, Irvin Noak III, 30, and Aaron Noak, 22, who police said also live at the home, also were transported to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center, where they were admitted in critical condition.
Police said other family members were in the home on Foxglove Circle when the shooting took place at 11:10 p.m.
No one else was injured, police said.
Details of the argument were not immediately known, but police said Irvin Noak was arguing with family members during a party when the two sons intervened.
Police said the retired officer “then retrieved a handgun from his bedroom and shot his two sons.”
Noak then shot and killed himself.
Homicide Squad detectives are continuing to investigate.
Noak joined the police department in 1982 and retired in 2009, according to the NYPD.
A large tent with tables and chairs, some festooned with balloons, were still in the side yard of the home on Monday morning in the Atlantic Point complex of townhome-style apartments.
Two people cleaning up the table and chairs declined to comment Monday.
Neighbors said they saw the family setting up for a party Sunday and the festivities, which included music, appeared peaceful.
One neighbor, who has lived across the street from the home for about five years, said he knew the elder Noak, who had introduced himself as a retired NYPD officer, and said he lived in the complex for more than a decade.
“A very good family and all that,” said the neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified. “A very respected guy. He went out of his way to say hello. I talked to him last week at the mailbox.
He said hello to me ... He said something as a typical cop would say, he says, ‘I’m looking out for you. I got your back.’ That’s how he was.”
Dilek Falco, 57, has lived in the neighborhood for about a year, and said it’s usually quiet.
“I saw them setting up,” Falco said. “There was music playing. there were people there. It looked like a nice party. It looked like everybody was having a good time.”