KEW GARDENS, Queens (WABC) — A Queens man has been charged after he shot and killed another person who was allegedly trying to rob him, police said.
Officials say the shooting happened in a driveway on 82nd Avenue in Kew Gardens around 2 a.m. Wednesday.
The 32-year-old man was armed with a sharp object and tried to rob a 65-year-old man of money and cigarettes, authorities said.
The 65-year-old man, identified as Charles Foehner, pulled out a gun and shot him up to five times.
In surveillance video seen by Eyewitness News, the assailant tackles Foehner from 40 feet away. Foehner waves him off, raising his left hand, but the assailant continues to approach aggressively. With that, Foehner draws his gun from 20 feet. When the attacker waves an object and lunges, Foehner shoots from 8 feet.
He then called 911 and said he was at a shooting and the gun was in his jacket pocket. He voluntarily surrendered to responding officers.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene and a pen was discovered in his right hand.
The 65-year-old man was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, according to a spokesman for the Queens district attorney’s office.
The Queens District Attorney will have to determine if this is a case of self-defense.
The 32-year-old had numerous prior arrests for burglary, theft, drug possession and other related charges.
Several of Foehner’s neighbors told Eyewitness News they are supportive.
“He was protecting himself. So how can I blame him? You know, unfortunately the guy had to lose his life. I don’t wish that on anybody. But these are the circumstances where you just rob people of the random. You never know. what you’re going to get,” said neighbor Vercelle Evans.
In the minutes before the shooting, investigators believe the gunman opened fire and inexplicably broke the windows of two neighboring buildings. Foehner lives around the corner with his wife, where he is well-loved. Sources say he has an active NYPD firearms permit.
Ángel Rodríguez lives in the corridor.
“If the video shows that, you know, he was acting in self-defense and the guy was actually trying to hurt him, then I know, I think we should be able to protect ourselves,” neighbor Rodriguez said.
Katz says the case is complicated.
“This is a complicated case and we will review the evidence,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said before the charges were dropped. “We just went to the crime scene. I’ll have comments for you after we investigate.”
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