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Video: Armed Robber Fatally Shot By Retired NYPD Lieutenant
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 13, 2012
Modified Apr 13, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 13, 2012
Modified Apr 13, 2012
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An armed robber was fatally shot after he and an accomplice attempted to rob a pharmacy in East Harlem yesterday—and it turns out he was felled by a retired NYPD Lieutenant who happened to be at the gas station across the street at the time. Thomas Barnes, 48, never fired a gun during his 21 years on the force: “I’m just glad to be alive,” Barnes said afterward. “I’m glad to be home with my family."
Untitled from Gothamist on Vimeo.
Suspect Wyatt (Booga) Rudolph, who was wanted on warrants for two other shootings, had jumped over the counter of the RX Center Pharmacy with his gun drawn just after 11 a.m. Thursday. He and his accomplice demanded all their cash and 30 milligram pills of Oxycontin and Percocet. As you can see in the video above, police briefly had the accomplice in custody, but Rudolph shot three times at cops as he ran out of the pharmacy.
Barnes was filling up his car's tank at the BP station across the street when he saw Rudolph, wearing a black stocking mask, running toward him; Barnes fired three times, killing Rudolph. “Part of the back of his head was missing. He had a large head wound and there was tons of blood,” witness John Brecevich told the Post.
Barnes will not be charged for the shooting. The accomplice escaped on foot, and hasn't been identified yet. Rudolph had 11 prior arrests, and was a suspect in four other pharmacy robberies in East Harlem and the South Bronx.
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east harlem
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Thomas Barnes
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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