Hempstead Man Sentenced To 30 Years For Shooting That Left Security Guard Paralyzed: DA

MINEOLA, NY. — A Hempstead man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with a 2023 shooting that left a 23-year-old Freeport bar security guard paralyzed from the neck down, prosecutors announced Wednesday.

34-year-old Tiray Clemmons was convicted in September of two counts of second-degree attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree criminal use of a firearm and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and received his sentence Wednesday, District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

Prosecutors said the charges stemmed from an incident that took place on Jul. 15, 2023, in which Clemmons was kicked out of a bar on Nautical Mile after an altercation with its manager and denied reentry by a security guard. Just before 10:15 that night, prosecutors said Clemmons returned to the bar in a black sedan, got out of the car and fired six rounds from a .357 firearm, striking the 23-year-old security guard and another bystander.

The security guard was shot in the back, which caused severe injury to his spinal chord, prosecutors said. The 23-year-old was transported to South Nassau Hospital the night of the shooting for emergency life-saving surgery, after which he was left paralyzed from the neck down, prosecutors said. According to the DA’s office, the man will never again be able to walk or regain full use of his arms.

“Tiray Clemmons was angry that he was kicked out of a bar, and he turned to wanton violence,” Donnelly said. “He could have gone home to lick his wounds but instead he picked up a gun and started shooting. Firing into the crowded bar, this defendant targeted the security guard who kept him out, striking the young man in the spine and paralyzing him from the neck down. Clemmons was denied re-entry into a bar, and because of his malice and brutality, an innocent man is now cruelly denied the chance to ever hold his three-year-old daughter again.”

The other bystander injured in the shooting was struck in the neck and scrotum and also required surgery, prosecutors said.

Clemmons fled the scene after the shooting, leaving the gun in the canal behind the bar before being arrested the same night, prosecutors said. Nassau County police divers recovered the gun four days later, on Jul. 19, 2023, prosecutors said.

As part of the sentencing, Clemmons will also spend five years under post-release supervision, prosecutors said.