Yesterday morning, hours after he stared down four armed robbers, begged them to leave, and then fired at them when they started pistolwhipping one of his employees—ultimately killing two of the suspects and injuring the other two—Charles "Gus" Augusto was back at his West 125th restaurant supply store and repeatedly stated he was unhappy that he had to resort to violence. The Daily News got the first interview, and the other papers and news stations followed—the 72-year-old told NY1, "I did the only thing I could do at that time. Tried as long as I could not to, tried to get out of it; they wouldn't let me get out of it," while saying to the Post, "I did what I had to do. It wasn't my choice; it was their choice."
Augusto used a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun he purchased 20 years ago after being robbed; the Post says Augusto fired three times with buckshot and the NY Times says Augusto wasn't sure it would work. James Morgan, 29, was shot in the face and died outside the store, while Raylin Footman, 21, ran down the street, collapsed and was later pronounced dead. Their fellow would-be robbers, 21-year-olds Bernard Witherspoon and Shamel McCloud, were treated by St. Luke's Hospital and will be arraigned today on robbery charges. Augusto said to NY1, "How would you feel? This is terrible. This is really awful. I can't imagine it. Some young kids are dead because they're stupid."
There are worries that the neighborhood, which was riding the wave of the real estate boom and economic good times, may falter again. According to the Times, "Just two years ago, Mr. Augusto, who became an owner of the company in 1978, and his partner turned down offers to sell their two buildings on West 125th Street, including the one that houses the store, for $9 million, an amount it would be unlikely to fetch today." Augusto said, "I’ve been here 50 years. I don’t really want to go nowhere. What do I do then? I’m not going to let these hoodlums run me out of here."
The employee that was pistolwhipped, J.B., rallied around his boss, telling the Times, "Better [his attacker] with a tag on his toe than my mother planning a funeral for me." And the Post saw J.B. kick away a candle that had been placed outside the store, asking the woman who placed it, "Who's this for? For the guy who died? F--- him!"
And Augusto doesn't think he's a hero: He said, "I know the pain these people must feel. I don’t know what feels worse, now or when my only son died."
