NewsChannel34, November 21, 2011: A Johnson City homeowner allegedly shot an intruder this weekend after the man tried to break down his front door. It happened at about 4:30 Sunday morning on Virginia Ave in the Village. JC Police say the burglar did manage to get inside and that's when the owner shot him. Police say the intruder was hit in the arm and is expected to recover. Names are not being released at this time. No charges have yet been filed. Police say the investigation is continuing.

New York Post, November 8, 2011: He almost slept with the fishes too! A burglar who broke into the former Staten Island mansion of murdered mob boss Paul “Big Paul” Castellano narrowly avoided being shot dead himself earlier today after the homeowner fired off several warning rounds as the bandit fled, The Post has learned. The thief slipped into the sprawling, white, columned home at 177 Benedict Road on Tony Todt Hill at around 3:35 a.m. by removing a sliding glass door on a rear veranda, law enforcement sources said. He crept up to the third floor master bedroom and started rummaging through a walk-in closet and removing luxury watches, creating a ruckus that awakened homeowner Selim Rusi, the sources continued. Rusi, 55, went to check on the commotion and was shocked to discover a black-clad burglar in his residence, sources said. Also home at the time were Rusi's wife, his son and daughter-in-law. The busted bandit sprinted off as Rusi ran to fetch his registered Smith and Wesson handgun, sources added. By the time Rusi ran outside, the suspect had dashed into the nearby woods. To make sure the culprit didn’t return, Rusi squeezed off at least three bullets into the air, sources said. Investigators are currently poring over the home and surveillance video in an effort to identify the suspect. Rusi will face no charges for firing his gun, sources said. Rusi purchased the home, valued at $2.25 million, in 1999, records show. Castellano – the former head of the Gambinos – lived in the home until he was gunned down on Dec. 16, 1985 outside the Sparks Steak House in Midtown, Manhattan. The rubout was executed by four assassins working for John “The Teflon Don” Gotti, who then took control of the crime family. In 2002, Gotti died in federal lockup from throat cancer.

New York Post, October 28, 2011: One man was fatally shot and another wounded when gunfire erupted in a Harlem apartment building yesterday.  Police are investigating the possibility that the shooter was a robbery victim who wrested a firearm from one of his attackers, then fired in self-defense.  A 36-year-old man who lives on the 19th floor of the Taino Towers, at 2383 Second Ave., told cops he was walking down the hallway at around 12:30 p.m. when two men in their 20s pulled a gun on him. He said he was able to grab the weapon and pull the trigger.  The injured man, whose name was withheld, was in stable condition; Jaquan Wilson, 18, who was shot in the back, died.

WKBW, September 29, 2011: Buffalo Police tell Eyewitness News that early Thursday afternoon, two armed suspects approached 71 year old retired police officer Don Miller outside his John Paul Court home, near William and Fillmore on Buffalo's East Side. "They evidently picked the wrong person to be a victim. He withdrew a licensed handgun, and engaged in gunfire with the robbers," Miller's attorney Thomas Burton said. One of the suspects, a male in his mid twenties, was struck in the upper body. He fled the scene and collapsed in a nearby parking lot. That suspect was taken to ECMC where he later died. The other suspect is still missing. "Either you are on the right side of the law or the wrong side of the law. And if you are on the wrong side of the law there are consequences for your actions. There is no right way to commit crime. Sooner or later, if you're sponsoring it, if you're part of it, it's going to catch up," Chairman of the Stop the Violence Coalition Arlee Daniels said. Buffalo Police are still investigating this case. Meanwhile the debate continues regarding whether this shooting was a responsible use of force. Miller's attorney says his client was within his rights, and Burton says that the police department agrees. "They believe it is a legitimate use of deadly force, in the face of a robbery, and that no charges are pending from buffalo PD," Miller's attorney said. "Ff someone breaks into your house I think you have the right to defend yourself. I think it's the fault of the attackers," neighbor William Gault said. Daniels said that it depends on the severity. "Everybody has a right to protect their property, but at the same time, if your life is not in imminent danger, you have to show restraint," he said. Buffalo Police are still looking for the other robbery suspect in this case. Police are also looking for a passerby who they say stole two guns from the one suspect who collapsed and later died. Anyone with any information is asked to call the Buffalo Police Confidential Tipline at 847-2255.

Post-Journal, May 27, 2011: The Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office is investigating a shooting in the Chautauqua area on Thursday. According to Chautauqua County Sheriff Joseph Gerace, the shooting resulted from an armed home invasion robbery and involved two suspects and a homeowner on Mayville-Sherman Road/Route 430 in Chautauqua. The call came in shortly after noon. "A vehicle with two subjects in it drove into a driveway of a residence in the town of Chautauqua on Route 430," said Gerace. At this point, one of the two people inside the vehicle went to the front door of the house. The passenger stayed beside the vehicle. According to the police report, the man wanted to know if there was any land to rent in the area, and then showed force by displaying a handgun. He then told the man and woman inside the house to lie down on the floor. "When the door was opened, first he asked if they were selling property, then forced his way into the house while brandishing a handgun," he said. The homeowner then armed himself with his own handgun. "The owner of the home was armed with a small-caliber weapon and shot at the intruder," he said. The homeowner fired three rounds at the suspect. The suspect then ran from the home. "The owner of the home believes he may have struck the perpetrator with birdshot," he said. "He possibly struck him in the facial area. The intruder then fled the area with the other subject in the vehicle." The vehicle was described as a 1990s Chrysler sedan, possibly a Chrysler LeBaron, either light blue or light green in color. The man who approached the house is described at a white male, 5 feet 8 inches tall and 160 pounds, wearing a gray shirt and possibly wearing blue jeans, with dark hair and a small beard. The driver of the vehicle is described as a white male, 5 feet 10 inches tall with a thin build, wearing unknown clothes, described to be wearing a facemask and blue rubber gloves. "It is believed that the driver had a mask on at the time," said Gerace. The vehicle was last seen fleeing on Route 430 in a southern direction toward the Sherman area. The motive for the crime is currently under investigation, he said. "That is something they are working on currently," he said. "Investigators and deputies in the area are working on that as we speak." Anyone with any information regarding this crime is asked to contact the Sheriff's Office at 753-4232.

WCBS, April 13, 2011: A home invasion on Long Island turned deadly for one of the suspects early Wednesday morning. Police told WCBS 880 reporter Sophia Hall that a gunman and two other suspects forced their way inside a two-story, yellow-colored home on Adams Street in East Islip around 2 a.m. The homeowner returned fire after a suspect shot the family dog, police said. One suspect died on the back porch and another was hospitalized, police said. A third suspect fled the scene but was later caught by authorities. Residents expressed shock after the violent early morning incident. “We never have any problems. Nothing ever happens in this neighborhood,” one person said. “If you have to protect yourself, you have protect yourself. [If] someone breaks into my house, I would probably do the same thing,” another neighbor said. The dog is expected to survive. The man and two women who live in the home were not injured.

Post-Standard, March 9, 2011: A Syracuse man shot while trying to rob the owner of a store in September admitted his guilt in court today. Rayshawn Johnson, 29, pleaded guilty before state Supreme Court Justice John Brunetti to felony charges of attempted first-degree robbery, attempted second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Johnson admitted being armed with a knife when he tried to rob an employee of the Los Amigos convenience store at 204 W. Brighton Ave. Sept. 27. Assistant District Attorney Kari Armstrong said Johnson was threatening owner Ruben Colon with a large knife when Colon pulled out a gun to defend himself. The prosecutor said Johnson tried to grab the gun away from Colon and was shot once in the side when the gun went off during a struggle over the weapon. The third-degree weapons charge relates to the knife Johnson had while trying to commit the robbery. The attempted second-degree weapons charge relates to his attempt to wrestle the handgun away from Colon during the attempted holdup, Armstrong said. Armstrong said Colon had a proper license for the handgun and did nothing wrong in defending himself against the armed Johnson. She said the prosecution was looking to have Johnson sentenced to 12 years in state prison for the crime. But Brunetti agreed to sentence Johnson to nine years in prison if the defendant pleaded guilty to the entire indictment. By doing that, the defendant was able to block the prosecution from having a say in the sentence. Johnson accepted the judge's offer and pleaded guilty as charged. Sentencing is set for May 13.

New York Post, February 17, 2011: A Bronx jewelry-store owner turned the tables on armed thugs who tried to rip him off yesterday -- blasting them with a gun he had stashed in a safe, police said. The wild scene unfolded shortly before 2 p.m. when the owner of Spinelli & Sons on Arthur Avenue buzzed in a man and a woman. One of the would-be robbers whipped out a gun and ordered the owner, Anthony Spinelli, 49, to take money out of the safe, police sources said. Instead, Spinelli grabbed his licensed handgun and began firing at the suspects, according to the sources. The couple fled, but Spinelli continued firing after them -- hitting a third suspect who was standing by the getaway vehicle, a Cadillac Escalade, the sources said. That man was struck in the left leg and taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in stable condition. Charges were pending last night. As the man and woman continued running on Arthur Avenue toward Crescent Avenue, two other merchants joined in the chase. "This is our neighborhood and we protect our neighborhood," one told The Post. "Our guard was off -- because there should have been three dead people on the street." The male suspect dropped a bag containing the jewelry during the fracas and his female companion ran back to retrieve the stolen goods, witnesses said. "That's when they started struggling for it," said one witness. "All the watches started spilling into the street." Those two suspects were still on the loose.