The old adage that “God created men, Col. Colt made them equal” was proven true yet again in the Queens neighborhood of New York City this week when a 65-year-old man used a handgun to defend himself from a 32-year-old attacker. Unfortunately, the elderly man that appears to have acted in self-defense was arrested for daring to defend himself.
The incident occurred at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, May 31st, in a driveway near the Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens. It was then that the 32-year-old man approached the 65-year-old man with an object in his hand. According to FOX 5, the elderly man was approached by the young man, who demanded both money and cigarettes while wielding the sharp object.
It was then that, as ABC 7 reports, 65-year-old Charles Foehner drew a handgun and shot the unnamed attacker as many as 5 times.
That report goes on to note that, as can be seen in a surveillance tape from the area, the alleged assailant first confronted Foegner from about 40 feet away. That alleged assailant then gradually approached Foehner as Foehner tried to wave the assailant away, obviously taking the man’s approach as threatening. Foehner then drew his firearm when the alleged assailant got within about 20 feet, but still the man did not stop aggressively approaching him.
The alleged assailant then got within 8 feet, at which point he slashed with the sharp object while lunging toward Foehner, ABC 7 reports the surveillance video shows. That is when Foehner fired the handgun multiple times, fatally shooting the man. A pen was discovered in the man’s hand when police arrived and began investigating, and ABC 7 reports that the dead 32-year-old had numerous prior arrests for a slew of crimes including robbery, burglary, and drug possession.
Foehner, after the shooting, called 911 and described what happened, saying that he was involved in a shooting and had the gun on his person, in his jacket pocket. When the responding officers arrived, he voluntarily surrendered to them.
He then called 911, stating he was in a shooting and the gun was in his jacket pocket. He voluntarily surrendered to responding officers. The man was arrested and charged with, a spokesperson for the Queens District Attorney’s Office said, both criminal possession of a firearm and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Foehner’s neighbors are sympathetic. One, for example, said, “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 this is the circumstances when you randomly just rob people. You never know what you’re going to get.” Another neighbor had a similar assessment of the situation, saying, “If video shows that, you know, he was acting in in self-defense and the guy was actually trying to harm him, then I you know, I believe we should be able to protect ourselves.” Unlike the slain, alleged robber, Mr. Foehner does not have an arrest record.
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