A 49-year-old man was fatally shot in Bohemia while smoking a cigarette in his backyard, police say.

The shooting happened around 6:30 a.m. outside of 605 Smithtown Ave. just off of Sunrise Highway, according to authorities.

Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison says it may have been two individuals with a shotgun or longarm rifle that fired at him.

Police say the man was able to crawl back into his home after being shot several times. He died from his injuries once inside and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim had three daughters who were inside at the time of the shooting. He was married.

Neighbors say he was a kind man who would always help them out. They were sad to hear what happened to him and shocked to hear gunshots so close to home.

"When I was getting up this morning I heard four shots, 'Boom, boom, boom, boom,' and then after that I said to my wife, 'I think there was a gun outside,'" says Jerry Anthony. "And five minutes later I see all these cops come, they came really quick."

Harrison says they believe the shooters left in a car, but they do not have a description of the vehicle.

It is an ongoing investigation, and News 12 is told it is too early to definitively determine if the shooting was targeted.

"For them to go in the backyard and know he was back there smoking a cigarette, I'm going to lean toward there may have been some intimacy there, but once again beginning part of the investigation," Harrison says.

Anyone with information is asked to call Suffolk Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS.