Bellmore Patch, June 15, 2013: A pharmacist who purchased a gun after two fatal pharmacy robberies on Long Island used it to shoot at a robber Friday afternoon, according to Nassau County Police. According to detectives, Marc S. Gumpert, 43, of Freeport entered Precision Pharmacy on Merrick Road and demanded Ritalin and Dilaudid. The pharmacist, a 34-year-old man, complied with Gumpert who then fled the store with the proceeds. The pharmacy owner, who has been identified by Newsday as Richard Longo, followed Gumpert out of the store and observed him at his vehicle a 2011 Nissan Altima. Gumpert pulled a knife from his waistband and he took steps towards Longo. The victim was armed with a licensed revolver and fired once, which deflected off the ground and struck the rear tire of Gumpert’s car. Gumpert entered his car and fled northbound on Bedford Avenue. He was later arrested in Freeport without incident and the proceeds were recovered. There were no injuries reported. An employee at Texicana Grill, located next door to the pharmacy, told Patch they heard "one or two shots...fired." The eatery was not affected during the robbery. Gumpert is charged with Robbery 1st Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd degree. He will be arraigned on June 15.

MidHudsonNews, February 11, 2013: Police in the Town of Newburgh are investigating a home invasion robbery in which shots were fired. Residents of 109 South Plank Road told officers three men wearing mask and armed with handguns entered their home, threatened them and demanded money. One of the residents was on the second floor and was told there were masked men on the first floor. He grabbed a loaded shotgun and confronted on suspect in the stairway and fired one shot at him. All three suspects fled the house. The resident fired two more shots at the suspects as they ran across the backyard toward Highland Avenue. It is unknown if any of the suspects were wounded. Evidence at the scene indicates a window of the suspect vehicle may have been shattered. The SUV headed east on Highland Avenue. None of the residents in the home was injured. Anyone with information is asked to call Newburgh Town Police detectives at 845-564-1100.

Journal News, January 23, 2013: Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard says a resident of a home confronted two burglars with a semi-automatic assault rifle and scared the would-be burglars off. It happened around midnight Tuesday. Chief Sheppard says the weapon is legal and is legally owned by the resident. It's the style of gun that the homeowner used that some anti-gun advocates say shouldn't even be available. News10NBC spoke with the homeowner Wednesday night. He says he shudders to think what would have happened if he hadn't had a gun. He believes that gun saved his life and the lives of his roommates. Gun control has been a hot topic since the Christmas Eve shooting on Lake Road in Webster and the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. New York State is the first in the nation to enact stricter gun laws following those tragedies. The gun in this case was an AR-15, a semi-automatic rifle, and according to Chief Sheppard it was registered and legal. Officials estimate there are about one-million semi-automatic rifles in the state. News10NBC asked Chief Sheppard about this incident and if this could be a case in support of personal gun ownership. “I think in terms of the ban, or the legislation that was passed, it wasn't about banning AR-15s. It was really about banning weapons with certain characteristics to military weapons and it grandfathered in a number of those weapons that were pre-owned prior to the Governor signing his legislation. So from my perspective I don't have a problem with anyone owning any type of weapon. When it comes down to what would serve the citizens of Rochester best, if we do not have weapons that result in mass murder that's the best for everybody,” said Sheppard. Sheppard says he is not interested in disarming the public and supports the constitutional right to bear arms. His fight, he says, are the guns on the street that wreak havoc in our city. Police are still looking for the burglary suspects.

Journal News, June 30, 2012: A black bear that wandered into a family’s backyard barbecue wound up being the meal Saturday. Richard Wheeler and his family were inside their home prepping for a casual afternoon cookout when the bear showed up in the yard about 10 feet from where his two young sons were playing, a family member said. When Wheeler spotted the bear, he got his .22-caliber rifle and killed the animal with one shot, said his brother-in-law, Chris Dabreau. Wheeler, an experienced hunter, acted on instinct to protect the boys, ages 5 and 11, who were playing outside alone in the family’s pavilion next to the house, said Dabreau. “We normally hunt deer, but today the bear didn’t make it out of here,” he said. No people were hurt and no charges were filed following the shooting outside 567 Willow Grove Road about 12:20 p.m., Stony Point police Sgt. John Wood said. Authorities called the bear a nuisance animal and told the family they could keep the carcass. Dabreau, 39, said he was keeping it on ice and the family planned to cook it later in the evening. Dabreau and Wheeler, 32, who live side by side with their families on Willow Grove Road, have six children between them, ages 3 to 13. The property lies at the edge of Harriman State Park and near Cheesecote Mountain Town Park, an area where bears are known to make night-time appearances. Dabreau and other relatives who were continuing their barbeque Saturday afternoon said recent bear sightings during the day over the last couple months had surprised them and their neighbors. The bears had been seen shredding garbage, on a porch, and in one case, hovering around a swimming pool while two kids swam, Dabreau said. Normally, they just shoo the animals away or ignore them, he said. But none had ever come as close as Saturday’s visitor did, Dabreau said. They knew it was in the area because a neighbor had called to report a sighting less than an hour before the bear appeared in their yard, he said. His account of the distance differed slightly from one provided by the Department of Environmental Conservation, which reported the 160- to 175-pound male bear came within about 30 feet of the children. DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said the animal had been spotted in the area Friday night and had two tags from the New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife. Police and DEC officers who responded to the scene determined Wheeler’s actions were justified and the DEC released the animal’s carcass to him, Wood said. “This is kind of a unique situation,” Wood said, because of the children’s presence and because “the bear has been a nuisance.” Typically, people aren’t free to shoot wildlife that ventures onto their property, he said. Potential charges could include discharging a firearm within proximity of a residence or hunting without a license, he said. It is not bear hunting season.

WNYT, June 11, 2012: While he doesn't want to reveal his identity, a Guilderland homeowner wanted to send a message about self protection in the home, after an intruder reportedly pounded and yelled outside his door. "I keep replaying it over, why did I open that door?" he said. He wished he'd never opened the door just after four in the morning Sunday, to a man pounding and demanding money. "Starts yelling at him about how he wants money for two kegs of beer that he dropped off earlier that day. Individual knows nothing of this whatsoever. There was no party at the house," said Craig Apple, Albany County Sheriff. Albany County sheriff Craig Apple says 20-year-old Cody Lassonde, an active duty Marine from Altamont, was intoxicated when he pushed his way into the home on Veeder Road. The wife inside called 911. The husband grabbed this 12-gauge shotgun, a Remington 870 used for hunting. "At that point, I felt my only means of protection. I'm not going to get into some hand to hand combat with somebody," he said. The homeowner said they managed to get Lassonde out of the house and locked the door, standing on one side with the shotgun poised, as Lassonde banged and shouted to get back in. That's when deputies arrived, wrestling Lassonde to the ground and tasing him for the arrest, saying the Marine blew a point one seven after the incident. "He was actually very cordial and polite once he sobered up. Had no recollection whatsoever. But needless to say intoxication and stupidity is not a defense," Apple said. The homeowner was glad he didn't have to use his shot gun for self defense. "Well, if I had to if he had broke through the door, I would've used the gun, I wouldn't have tried to kill him but I would have shot at his leg or something," he said.

New York Post, March 13, 2012: An after-hours cleaning man at a Jamaica grocery shot and killed one of two brazen catburglars who'd cut a hole through the roof to rob the place, sources said. The unidentified cleaning man was on the job at the Met Foodmarket at Jamaica Avenue and 173rd Street when the pair lowered themselves to a spot near the store's check-out aisles shortly after 2 a.m. The worker had a gun registered to the store's owner and opened fire after confronting the pair, the sources said. Manager Louis Rodriguez, 50, said the overnight worker was a churchgoing man known to fellow employees as "Tonito." "He's a short guy, chubby, around 50, but he looks strong," Rodriguez added. Cops at the 103rd precinct were questioning the worker this morning.

Post-Standard, January 6, 2012: A masked man armed with a knife was no match this afternoon for a Syracuse store employee armed with a rifle, Syracuse police said. Police were called to a robbery in progress at 12:39 p.m. today to Balwi Food Market, 801 Butternut St. When officers arrived, they found the store clerk with a rifle pointed to the head of Urban Anderson, 31, Sgt. Tom Connellan said. The clerk is not being named by police. Connellan gave these details: Anderson, of 210 Lincoln Ave., walked into Balwi Food Market wearing a ski mask and carrying a knife. Anderson walked behind the counter and confronted the 21-year-old store employee. Anderson and the store employee exchanged words and Anderson began swinging the knife. The employee, who suffered cuts to his arms by the knife, was able to fend off Anderson before he grabbed a rifle kept behind the counter for protection. The store employee forced Anderson to the ground, keeping him there until police arrived. Anderson was charged with attempted robbery and assault, both felonies, and criminal possession of a weapon, a misdemeanor. The store clerk’s cut arms were treated at St. Joseph’s Hospital, police said.