At Massapequa’s St Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which has a high percentage of cop and first responder parishioners, Rev Gerard Gentleman noted how the community moved quickly from shock to generosity and empathy.

“People reached out, saying: What are we doing for [Heuermann’s] family? Can we do anything?” the pastor said. “And we did. We had some offerings to them and … one of our staff members did actually go and sit with his wife for a little while.

“Obviously, there was also concern: ‘My goodness, this was happening right here in our town. He was among us,'” Gentleman said, adding that he believes “there is great relief that this is going to be in the past” as well as “deep sadness”.

“People do look at Massapequa as a close-knit community, and this was very disruptive and shattering,” he said.

The parish has repeatedly seen firsthand the outpouring of support from the law enforcement community; when Massapequa resident and NYPD Det. Jonathan Diller was killed in the line of duty two years ago, thousands turned out for the St Rose of Lima funeral, for example – and lined the streets. (President Donald J. Trump also made headlines for attending the officer’s wake in Massapequa, which has become increasingly more Republican in recent years; Nassau County flipped to red in the 2024 presidential election for the first time in two decades.)

“It’s a community that responds to sadness, to tragedy, finds their strength in being with one another and that identity,” he said. “It’s a middle-class, working community – lots of cops and firemen – and that’s the, I think, ethos of the community.”

And that ethos will likely be relied upon heavily since Heuermann’s guilty pleas.

“It brings great closure to everybody that this individual is behind bars,” Garland said. “It’s the right guy, and it’s nothing that anybody has to be concerned with moving forward.”

Azzata, for his part, feels “happy that this individual was arrested and hopefully will plead guilty and put this whole thing to rest.”

While police may feel vindicated, however, and while Massapequa – and wider Long Island – might feel safer, Azzata pointed out that even a guilty plea will only do so much for the loved ones of the murdered women.

“People say they get closure; there’s no closure,” he said. “You may get justice, but victims’ families never get closure.”