Posted on 06/21/2011 8:06:20 AM PDT by marktwain
A Brooklyn gunman who opened fire on a pack of noisy teens was hailed as a hero Monday by the most unlikely of allies - the mother of the woman he inadvertently wounded.
Larisa Kaprovskaya said Thomas Dunikowski was just trying to protect them from local teens terrorizing their block.
"He shot because he wants to protect us," said Kaprovskaya, 50. "I don't know what would have happened to us if he didn't try to protect us. I appreciate him."
Kaprovskaya's 21-year-old daughter, Yana, was hit by shrapnel in her left leg when Dunikowski opened fire about 11:30p.m. Saturday.
Yana Kaprovskaya was not badly hurt, her mother said. She said Dunikowski stood up for them after the cops disregarded their pleas for help.
"It was so dangerous," the mom said. "I didn't know what was happening."
Dunikowski, 30, was slapped with a raft of charges for using a semiautomatic hunting rifle to open fire on the teens in Marine Park, cops said.
The wounded youths were identified as 17-year-old Francis Ruan and David Mahoney, 15, police said.
Kaprovskaya said Dunikowski is a family man who lives with his wife, Kimberly, and their 2-year-old son.
Another neighbor, John Westbay, felt sorry for the shooter.
"I can understand why he did it," Westbay said. "It's not the first time we've had this trouble."
Police said Monday they had no record of previous 911 calls from the shooter's home on Stuart St.
Meanwhile, Ruan's weeping mother said Dunikowski is a menace and that her son may never regain full movement in his arm because of the shooting.
"He should be put in jail for a long time," Miao Ruan said at Kings County Hospital, where her son was in stable condition.
The mother of one of the boys whom Francis Ruan was hanging out with when he was shot denied the kids were doing anything wrong.
"They did not provoke this," fumed Rose Bellantonio, 44. "Even if they were being rowdy, does that entitle an adult to fire at them with a gun?"
Dunikowski has a minor rap sheet - he was arrested in October for slashing the tires on his father-in-law's car, court records show.
The shooting started after about 30 teens hanging out on Dunikowski's stoop began knocking over garbage cans and vandalizing cars, neighbors said.
Kaprovskaya said Dunikowski told them to beat it, and the teens responded by hurling garbage.
Dunikowski punched Ruan in the head, breaking his glasses, witnesses said, but that wasn't enough to drive him - or the other kids - away.
Furious, Dunikowski grabbed an unlicensed rifle, opened a second-floor window - and began shooting, police said. Witnesses estimated he fired about 30 times.
One shot pierced Ruan's neck, and fragments from other rounds hit Mahoney in the left thigh and arm, police and friends of the victims said.
Dunikowski was arraigned on attempted murder and other lesser charges on Monday. He was ordered held on a $500,000 bond or $350,000 cash bail.
"These young kids started committing felonious acts to cars, houses, up and down the block," said Dunikowski's lawyer, Jay Schwitzman. "This is a case of self-defense."
Cops found Dunikowski in his bathroom brushing his teeth after the bloodshed, according to prosecutors, and he struggled to avoid being handcuffed.
In these situations... we have to pray for jury nullification. That’s the best way we can send a message that crime is out of control, and that we’re sick of nothing being done about it.
Of course, NYPD is far more interested in prosecuting anyone who might interfere with the predatory youtes. I suspect that’s because citizens don’t run as fast and are much easier to catch. A stat for a gun crime is always better for promotion than a law suit for brutality against a poor teen.
Reminds me of a Charles Bronson film.
“Meanwhile, Ruan’s weeping mother said Dunikowski is a menace and that her son may never regain full movement in his arm because of the shooting.”
If Dunikowski were a better shot, he wouldn’t be such a menace and this story could have had a happier ending.
Police said Monday they had no record of previous 911 calls from the shooter’s home on Stuart St.
Of course. (sarcasm)
Cops should be REQUIRED to live in the jurisdiction in which they work.
The girl who was wounded is apparently a wannabee model: http://www.exploretalent.com/yanakaprovskaya
Notice that the yutes were described as merely
“noisy teenagers”
instead of dangerous wilding predators.
“hanging out” = looking for trouble
Police said Monday they had no record of previous 911 calls from the shooter's home on Stuart St.......
Yeah, but I'd bet records would show that others in the neighborhood had called......unless those records have been scrubbed too. Police trying to cover their @$$ by twisting their response. And they wonder why an increasing number of citizens have lost respect for them.
more accurately, “looking for victims”
That is the most ridiculously looped headline ever....................
If the people of this country were really fed up hundreds of thousands would be marching in the street demanding his release. We’re not that upset yet. Will we ever be?
This is going to become an everyday occurance if the people don’t rise up. And there’s no telling what they would have done to that girl had this “Bernard Goetz” had not acted.
My late husband grew up in Marine Park. I haven’t been back there in quite a while but was a great neighborhood back in the day. I loved how just about every house decorated for Christmas . . . it was like walking through a winter wonderland.
She’s a cutie! Don’t know about modeling, but I date her..if my wife allows it of course ;)
“Dunikowski grabbed an unlicensed rifle, “
Unlicensed?
NYC - trampling constitutional rights since 1788!
It is quite possible the shooter didn't call. He's had trouble of his own (i.e. slashing his FIL's tires.), so he probably doesn't like the cops all that much.
The article does indicate that at least one other person had called when it says, "She said Dunikowski stood up for them after the cops disregarded their pleas for help."
Most likely the reason they specified no 911 calls from the shooter's home (rather than no 911 calls at all) is because, as we all know, the media hates guns. Anything they can do to make it look like only nutballs own guns, they're on it! You can also bet the prosecutor will try to use that bit of info to advance his case.
As to why the cops didn't deal with the problem - who knows. They obviously can't arrest someone if they don't catch them doing something wrong or have some evidence that they did some type of "harm". Not knowing those kinds of historical specifics, I can't say whether the cops were negligent in this case or not.
Can you please stick to talking about things that you might now something about, because it’s obvious you have no idea about my job.
It seems pretty clear that New York has it’s priorities a little off center. They want to regulate citizens salt intake, tobacco intake, gun ownership and license every other part of the life of the compliant citizen, but can’t seem to allocate enough resources to shut down these wilding youtes. Perhaps that is a little less inflammatory than laying the cause of vigilantism at the feet of one of the largest armed occupation forces in the world.
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