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July 10, 2001 Robbery Suspect Slain
Police: Shots appear to be self defense
by Kelly Bowser and Tom Demoretcky Staff Writers
A retired New York City correction officer working as a gas station attendant in North Bellmore yesterday shot and killed a robber who appeared to be armed with a gun, Nassau police said.
Police identified the attendant as Bruce W. Longley, 64, and said he had retired from the corrections department 22 years ago.
Det. Lt. Frank Guidice, head of Nassau's Homicide Squad, said the robber was armed with what appeared to be a pistol. He declined to elaborate until the gun is examined to determine if it is real.
Police said the shooting came after the robber, who was unidentified last night, had cleared out a cash drawer and was looking for more money.
Guidice said Longley was carrying a licensed 40-cal. semiautomatic pistol in the rear waistband of his pants. He said the robber saw a bulge in the back of Longley's trousers and asked about it. Longley then took out the pistol and fired three shots, hitting the man at least twice in the chest.
"It appears that he acts in defense of himself,” Guidice said of Longley. "However, the district attorney will make the final determination of whether the shooting was justified.”
Longley could not be reached for comment last night.
The confrontation took place inside the convenience store area of the Mobil station at Newbridge Road and Columbus Avenue shortly before 12:30 p.m.
The robber showed what appeared to be a gun and said, "Let me have the money,” Guidice said. Longley opened the register and the robber took the cash inside. Then, Guidice said, the robber walked behind the counter, saw the bulge in Longley's pants and said, "What do you have there?”
"We're assuming that he may have seen the outline of the gun,” Guidice said.
Guidice said that at that point Longley pulled out his loaded gun, instantly pulled back the weapon's slide to move a bullet from its magazine to the chamber, and fired three shots.
"He feels he's about to be shot. He's also concerned because he knows he [the robber] has a gun on him,” Guidice said.
Police said the man initially had asked to use the telephone at the station, walked out of the store to the telephone and came back in with the gun. Longley told police it looked like a silver semi-automatic pistol, they said. Police would not say how much money was in the register.
A customer who would not give his name but said he had been coming to the station for 12 years, said he had teased Longley in the past about his carrying the gun to work.
"He said sometimes you never know -- you never know when somebody could come in,” the man said. "There comes a point when you've got to defend yourself.”
-- Anonymous, July 10, 2001
Good catch on the story!Glad the guy wasn't hurt by the ordeal. Of course, the next ordeal is something else entirely. Let us hope that there are no charges against him for protecting himself.
-- Anonymous, July 10, 2001