Criminal Justice
‘No Choice’ But to Shoot 4 Would-Be Robbers, Says Store Owner, 72
Posted Aug 14, 2009 2:01 PM CST
By Martha Neil
The 72-year-old owner of a New York City restaurant supply store who made headlines yesterday when he shot two alleged would-be robbers to death and wounded two more, says he is "sick to my stomach" over the incident but had "no choice" but to pull the trigger.
After one member of the group pointed a gun at a secretary and a male employee was beaten as a young man demanded cash, Charles "Gus" Augusto tells the New York Daily News, he tried to talk the would-be robbers into leaving. When he didn't succeed, he reached for the 12-gauge shotgun he kept under the counter and started firing.
The beaten employee, store clerk Toxie "J.B." Hall, 35, credits his boss with saving his life. He has worked for Augusto since he was 19, he tells the newspaper. The store reopened today for business as usual.
Police are investigating whether the gun was properly licensed, and Augusto admits the license may have expired, the Daily News reports.
"It was sitting there for 20 years—I didn't know if it was gonna' work," Augusto says.
The men he shot, who were between 21 and 29 years old, are not identified in the article.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "After Worker is Whipped With Glock, Store Owner, 72, Shoots 4, Police Say"
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Comments
B. McLeod
Aug 14, 2009 2:09 PM CST
Sometimes, a 12-gauge achieves high eloquence.
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AndytheLawyer
Aug 14, 2009 2:34 PM CST
Where’s JD’s rant praising the second amendment and damning Obama for wanting to disarm stroekeepers nationwide?
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Paul the Magyar
Aug 14, 2009 4:25 PM CST
I sure hope that no jury, criminal or civil, punishes this guy.
If one has ever been attacked, and felt the need to react, the andrenalin kicks in and one does what one must do. I know, because I have been mugged twice.
That he shot them in the back is not indicative of anything meaningful, especially not of recklessness or a depraved heart. Once the andrenalin kicks in, one cannot “turn it off” at a moment’s reflection. It just does not work that way. One reacts until one can regain control over the andrenalin. Call it temporary insanity, call it whatever you want—it just IS.
That is also why I would have found Bernard Goetz not guilty. Self defense is reflex and reaction and andrenalin. Both gentlemen are victims of an act of violence perpertrated upon them, not perpetrators of violence themselves.
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Jen
Aug 15, 2009 9:52 AM CST
I may have missed it, but where in the article does it say he shot any of them in the back?!?!
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Kalifornia Arnold
Aug 15, 2009 10:05 AM CST
Better the gun license expired than the lives of the potential victims. Self-defense is alive in this country.Itt seems odd that the anti-Second Amendment people never cite the numbers of how many people’s lives have been saved by their being armed.
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James
Aug 16, 2009 2:09 PM CST
No jury in this country would ever convict this guy unless they were not given all the facts (ie: the case with two boarder patrol agents in federal court).
Kudos to Mr. Augusto for doing what he did. Moral of the story, “if you don’t want to die… don’t rob people.”
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associate
Aug 17, 2009 8:22 AM CST
We can’t just have vigilantes running around killing people. An unlicensed gun is illegal, and this criminal must be locked up for everyone’s safety. The store owner is a criminal plain and simple. If you think this is the wrong result, then take it up with the legislature.
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Paul the Magyar
Aug 17, 2009 7:18 PM CST
“I may have missed it, but where in the article does it say he shot any of them in the back?!?!”
From Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “After Worker is Whipped With Glock, Store Owner, 72, Shoots 4, Police Say”
“The New York Daily News reports that two of the men were shot in the back.”
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zekethewonderdog
Aug 17, 2009 9:10 PM CST
As I said when the story first was reported here, Mr. Augusto is a poor shot. He left two to tell their story.
I think he should be charged with negligent unhomicide and sentenced (after a proper conviction of course) to target practice on the range of his choice two days a week until he becomes proficient in the use of such a dangerous weapoon.
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zekethewonderdog
Aug 17, 2009 9:12 PM CST
One other thought, I am sure the authorities will find Mr. Augusto’s paperwork in order after a thorough investigation.
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Jim | 2009-08-20-Th 0351 -0400
Aug 20, 2009 2:11 AM CST
What if he had used a car with an expired registration to to aid an inured customer or bystander?
I submit that “self-defense” is better than “vigilante.”
IF he waited a while, hunted them down, and blown them away, THEN vigilante would be o.k.
The gun had been idle for twenty years and used one time to stop the attack of 4 predators.
Where is the danger to society’s safety?
=====
#7 associate - 17 Aug 2009
“We can’t just have vigilantes ....
“... everyone’s safety.”
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