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Masturbator Who Shot 4 Unarmed Shomrim Patrolmen Claims He Did So In Self-Defense
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 12, 2013
Modified Jun 12, 2013
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 12, 2013
Modified Jun 12, 2013
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Nearly three years ago, four members of the Shomrim, the Orthodox Jewish patrol, confronted a man who allegedly fondled himself and leered at young children in Borough Park, only to be shot by the pervert. Now, the shooter, David Flores, is on trial for four counts of attempted murder—and he's claiming self-defense.
The Post reports that Flores' lawyer Doug Appel told the jury that the four Shomrim members "surrounded his car and they banged on the windows... Did he bolt out of the car guns ablazing, or was he trying to save his own life? When the police arrived he was covered in his own blood." Well, that's because he apparently shot himself in the arm during the struggle.
Shomrim members are not armed, which prosecutor Lindsay Ashwal pointed out, "He knew his actions would cause any community — not just the Orthodox Jewish — to become outraged... He was going to do anything he could to avoid being arrested for public lewdness.” Flores has nine prior arrests, and had pleaded guilty to public lewdness before.
The Shomrim had put out an alert for Flores before the shooting, and volunteers joined to find him. One member told the NY Times, "We have a faster response than the police, about a minute and a half," and bragged that he can mobilize the community to block a suspect who is trying to flee by car, "I can shut down the streets in half of Brooklyn in seconds — instant traffic jam. We’ve trapped many perps that way."
Tagged
attempted murder
borough park
david flores
gun violence
public lewdness
shomrim
shooting
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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