Authorities say the dramatic scene unfolded in a driveway on 82nd Avenue at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday. The 32-year-old would-be robber was armed with a sharp object, according to police, and attempted to attack a 65-year-old man as he walked home.
The violent criminal demanded money and cigarettes.
The intended victim was identified as Charles Foehner. Investigators discovered that before the fatal encounter with the older man, the assailant engaged in a violent rampage. He is believed to have broken windows in a pair of nearby buildings.
Surveillance video showed the attacker at first confronting Foehner from about 40 feet. The older man attempted to wave off the assailant, but the younger man approached him aggressively.
The New York Post reported a video showed the alleged robber moving back and forth, seemingly taunting the older man before charging at him.
Video revealed that Foehner drew his silver handgun when the attacker was within 20 feet of him. At that point the robber waved a sharp object and Foehner fired from approximately eight feet. He shot as many as five times, according to reports.
The now-wounded robber attempted to flee but collapsed in the nearby street.
Foehner called 911 and stayed at the scene before voluntarily surrendering to law enforcement. The suspect was pronounced dead, and police discovered a pen in his right hand.
Of course, at 2 a.m. Foehner cannot be expected to distinguish one object from another when facing attack by a deranged criminal. And that’s ignoring the fact that a pen is a sharp object that may become a deadly weapon in the hands of an assailant.
The 65-year-old who defended himself was charged by the Queens District Attorney’s Office with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm. According to sources, Foehner has a NYPD firearms permit.
The office will further determine if the shooting was an act of self-defense. The deceased 32-year-old reportedly had several prior arrests for such crimes as robbery, burglary, drug possession, and others.
A neighbor, Vercelle Evans, told ABC7 News that Foehner was exercising his right to defend 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, Angel Rodriguez, also came forward to defend the older man. “If video shows that, you know, he was acting in self-defense and the guy was actually trying to harm him…then I believe we should be able to protect ourselves.”
The right to self-defense is ingrained in the human psyche. It says a lot about a person when they argue against someone’s ability to fight off a violent attack. Unfortunately, too many anti-gun zealots prefer that victims turn tail and run at the first sign of danger.
As this courageous Queens man demonstrated, not only is it not in our DNA, but it many times is not even possible. Could a 65-year-old man be reasonably expected to run from a much younger criminal?
No. He was prepared for the unexpected and did what he had to do. The legal system should be in his corner, and since by all accounts he was legally armed, the charges should disappear. There is one less violent criminal preying on innocent victims, and his intended victim lived to see another day.
For that we should all be thankful.
