NY shopkeeper who defended store recounts shooting

[August 15, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- A 72-year-old New York City shopkeeper has gunned down four men trying to rob his restaurant supply store but says he "didn't want to do it."

Charles "Gus" Augusto Jr. was back at work Friday, a day after the bloody confrontation. He says in an interview he had no choice but to turn his shotgun on the robbers.

Augusto described how on Thursday the four men burst into his commercial kitchen equipment store in Harlem with guns drawn. He says they demanded money and began beating a worker.

The shopkeeper says he pulled out his shotgun and fired three times. Two of the men died on the street. Two are hospitalized.

Police say Augusto didn't have a permit for the gun. But no charges have been filed.

[Associated Press]

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