SHOOTING JUSTIFIED, STATE POLICE SAY

State Police yesterday defended as justified the fatal shooting of a drug
suspect during a Friday morning raid in Aquebogue, while lawyers for the
dead man pressed for information and called for a special investigation.

John Rasanen, 27, died of a single gunshot wound to the chest after
clashing with State Trooper Daniel Brown moments after the 6 a.m. raid
began, police said. With his gun drawn, Brown kicked open the door to a
downstairs bedroom at 12 Overlook Dr., as Rasanen and a woman lay sleeping.

Police said Brown, 31, fired from inches away after Rasanen ignored orders
to remain still and instead charged the trooper, making contact with him.
An autopsy showed that the bullet ruptured Rasanen's lung.

Maj. Walter Heesch, commander of the State Police's Troop L in Farmingdale,
said yesterday he believed the shooting by Brown was justified based on
Rasanen's behavior and prior knowledge by police that he possessed weapons
and had exhibited violent tendencies. Under the state penal law, a police
officer's state of mind is crucial in deciding whether a shooting is justified.

"He feels his life is in danger," Heesch said of the trooper. "That's his
decision."

Rasanen has no record of violent criminal behavior, and Heesch would not
detail any specific incidents. Police said they discovered a loaded
45-caliber semi-automatic behind a television near Rasanen's body, however.

A determination on the trooper's actions will ultimately be left to a
Suffolk grand jury after the State Police finishes its investigation and
turns its findings over to the district attorney's office.

Daniel Rodgers, a Riverhead lawyer representing Rasanen's family, said he
thought a special investigator might be necessary. Another family attorney,
James Saladino, said State Police have "tough questions" to answer. "We
need to know why an unarmed man was shot in his home," Saladino said.

Brown, who lives southeast of Buffalo, has 5 1/2 years experience with the
State Police, has a record of "good service," and has not been placed on
any kind of modified duty, Heesch said. He is based out of Troop A in
Batavia. For two years he has been assigned to the Mobile Response Team, an
elite tactical unit with 36 members coordinated from Albany and deployed
across the state. That was the capacity in which Brown was working Friday.

That team performs a similar function to the Suffolk Police Emergency
Services unit, which was involved in a fatal shooting during a drug raid on
April 19. Police say Jose Colon was accidentally shot and killed as he left
a Bellport home, when an Emergency Services officer running toward the
house tripped over a tree root and bumped into another officer, who
mistakenly shot Colon in the head. A grand jury has not ruled on that case.

State Police, who worked with Suffolk police on a six-month drug
investigation, described Rasanen as a "mid-level" dealer of marijuana and
cocaine. He was the primary target of Friday's operation, which occurred as
search and arrest warrants were executed at four East End locations,
including Rasanen's home and his parents' house in Northampton.

Besides the gun, police said they found 4 ounces of cocaine in Rasanen's
possession and $5,022 in cash. Another man arrested upstairs, Corey G.
Clancy, 26, was charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine. Three
others in his home were questioned and released, but not identified by
police. People at the home yesterday declined to comment.

At a home raided on Woodville Road in Middle Island, James A. Kirton, 34,
was found Friday morning with a loaded and defaced 9-mm handgun under his
pillow, police said. In addition to raiding the four homes, police arrested
associates of Rasanen's at three other houses in the area. As of yesterday
afternoon, nine people had been arrested on narcotics, weapons and
conspiracy charges, and police had recovered cocaine, marijuana, two stolen
motorcycles, guns and large amounts of cash.