Hempstead man sentenced to 30 years for bar shooting that paralyzed security guard and injured bystander
MINEOLA, NY — A 34-year-old Hempstead man will serve three decades in state prison after opening fire outside a Freeport bar in a 2023 shooting that left a security guard permanently paralyzed and another man critically wounded.
Tiray Clemmons was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision after being convicted in September of multiple violent felonies stemming from the July 15, 2023, shooting at Agua on the Mile, a popular venue along the Nautical Mile.
The incident began after Clemmons was denied re-entry into the bar following an altercation with management. Minutes later, he returned to the scene in a black sedan and opened fire with a .357 caliber handgun, aiming at the 23-year-old security guard who had refused him entry.
Clemmons fired six rounds into the crowded entrance of the bar, striking the guard in the back and severely damaging his spinal cord. The victim, who underwent emergency surgery at South Nassau Hospital, was left paralyzed from the neck down and will never regain the use of his legs or full mobility in his arms.
Another man standing nearby was hit by two of Clemmons’ bullets—one in the neck and another in the groin. He also required surgery.
Clemmons fled the scene immediately after the shooting, tossing the firearm into a canal behind the bar. A Nassau County Police dive team recovered the weapon four days later. He was taken into custody the night of the shooting by a joint team from the Nassau County Police Department and the Freeport Police Department.
A Nassau County jury convicted Clemmons on September 16 of two counts of attempted murder, two counts of first-degree assault, criminal use of a firearm, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.
The case was prosecuted by the Firearm Suppression and Intelligence Unit of the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
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Key Points
- Tiray Clemmons, 34, was sentenced to 30 years for a 2023 shooting outside Agua on the Mile in Freeport
- A security guard was paralyzed and a bystander seriously injured after Clemmons opened fire with a .357 handgun
- The defendant fled and disposed of the weapon in a canal before being arrested later that night