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Nine Injured, Most Slightly, as Armed Robbers Open Fire at a Brooklyn Diner
The New York Times ^ | January 18, 2004 | MICHAEL WILSON with Ann Farmer

Posted on 01/17/2004 11:57:38 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife

wo men opened fire during a robbery at a Brooklyn diner early yesterday, wounding seven diners and a busboy and pistol-whipping a teenager before fleeing with cash and jewelry, the police said.

Detectives said they had counted more than 20 shell casings inside and outside the Galaxy Diner at 805 Pennsylvania Avenue in East New York, from at least two pistols, a .45-caliber and a 9-millimeter, but surprisingly, most of the people struck had suffered relatively minor injuries to their hands, arms or buttocks. Two men shot in the head suffered mere graze wounds.

The shootings took place shortly after 5 a.m. yesterday as about 30 patrons were eating breakfast at the 24-hour diner, which has a retro space motif.

One patron, Jaytee Spurgeon, 37, of East New York, said he was eating French fries after a night of drinking at a strip club and was chatting with one of the Galaxy's unarmed security guards when "all hell broke out."

"We heard one shot, and turned around and looked, and pop, pop, pop, pop," Mr. Spurgeon said. "I didn't know it was a robbery until three people were shot already."

Another patron, Melissa Boban, 22, was eating breakfast with three friends after a co-worker's 30th-birthday party. When the shooting began, they all dove under their table, said Ms. Boban's mother, Irma Greo.

"One of the guys walked toward the table where they were hiding and started shooting at the table," Ms. Greo said outside the diner yesterday afternoon. "He shot four shots. One of the girls was grazed in her foot. A guy got shot in the hand. My daughter, she didn't know what happened to her."

Ms. Boban, a nurse's aide in Brooklyn, had been shot in the stomach and the bladder. She was the most gravely injured, but the police and her mother said her wounds did not appear life-threatening. She was listed in serious condition at Kings County Hospital Center yesterday.

At least one of the gunmen carried a pistol in each hand, firing both, witnesses said. The two men shouted profanities and declared that they would not leave until they had all the money and jewelry in the diner, Mr. Spurgeon said. "It was a straight stickup," he said. "I guess they thought there was a lot of money up in there."

One patron, identified as Jordan Clifton, 33, handed over $600 and was shot in the right hand, the police said. Another, Matthew Daniels, 17, of Brooklyn, was pistol-whipped and robbed of his earrings and wallet. But the robbers did not steal from the register, the police said.

"They said, `Let me see one of y'all move again.' Then you heard a couple gunshots," Mr. Spurgeon said. This time the busboy, 39, was shot, the bullet grazing his head.

Mr. Spurgeon said he dove under his table as the gunmen noticed the security guard and shot the guard in the leg. A second shot misfired, jamming the gun, but as the guard ran out the front door, one of the gunmen fired rounds from his second weapon, Mr. Spurgeon said. The security guard did not seek medical attention for his wound, and he is not included in the police tally.

Mr. Spurgeon was shot in the buttocks. "I was on the floor," he said in a phone interview after being treated for his wounds. "I was laying on my mink coat. I didn't want them to see it." He said he handed over what was left of the $450 he had taken to the strip club. "I'm like, `You ain't got to kill me for the money, man,' " he said.

The police said a 911 call came from inside the diner, and Mr. Spurgeon said he was the caller. "I was on the floor talking to them while the shooting was going on," he said. "The lady said, `Are those gunshots?' "

Detectives were examining videotape taken of the shootings from surveillance cameras in the diner, a law enforcement source said.

The two gunmen fled through the diner's front door. One of them tried to enter a McDonald's next door, an employee there said.

"We heard gunshots," the employee told a reporter for WINS-AM. "We had to leave the drive-through area because bullets were flying. One individual who was trying to get away came to the McDonald's door and tried to force his way in, but the door was locked, thank God."

Detectives picked through the wreckage of shattered glass and splintered tabletops at the Galaxy yesterday, and found a bloody cap outside in the snow. The sisters of one victim, Roy Williams, 29, of Brooklyn, arrived to pick up his car. They said Mr. Williams had been shot in the arm and buttocks.

Councilman Charles Barron, who visited the scene from his office nearby, said witnesses told him that at least one customer had pretended to be dead.

Mr. Spurgeon said that after the mayhem was over, he recognized a friend in the crowd. The back of his head had been grazed by a bullet, and after bandaging the wound, doctors told the man to go straight to church to give thanks that the shot had not been an inch off, Mr. Spurgeon said.

"They've got no respect for human life," Mr. Spurgeon said of the gunmen. "The money they got wasn't worth shooting us."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: brooklyn
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To: sarcasm
Actually, I did think that was funny. Imagine, Senator Hillary Clinton!? It would seem many thinking Americans have left NY.
21 posted on 01/18/2004 3:01:37 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
You consider ignorance to be funny?
22 posted on 01/18/2004 3:16:59 AM PST by sarcasm (Tancredo 2004)
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To: AndyTheBear
That's it, we have suffered enough. It is time to pull all Americans out of Brooklyn!

I didn't know we had any up there.

23 posted on 01/18/2004 5:02:57 AM PST by The_Media_never_lie
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Mr. Spurgeon was shot in the buttocks... "I was laying on my mink coat. I didn't want them to see it.

One can only imagine what this dude looked like before he leaped under the table.

It's odd there are no urgent pleas for more gun control laws following this mass mayhem shooting. But then, almost all honest citizens are already disarmed in Brooklyn, so there is little need.

24 posted on 01/18/2004 5:41:14 AM PST by Gritty ("When firearms go, all goes. We need them every hour."-George Washington)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
"I was laying on my mink coat. I didn't want them to see it."

Good thing they didn't take his ostrich feather or steal the diamond out of his gold tooth.

25 posted on 01/18/2004 6:01:56 AM PST by Imal (I will never be a prophet.)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
LOL or a premonition of things to come. I wonder he sopped at Mugabe's satan cup of youth.
26 posted on 01/18/2004 6:45:37 AM PST by cyborg (feed marmite to the prisoners and they'll never go there again)
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To: sarcasm
Be mad. It seems to suit you.
27 posted on 01/18/2004 7:52:07 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Not mad - just pointing out your ignorance.
28 posted on 01/18/2004 11:03:08 AM PST by sarcasm (Tancredo 2004)
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To: TheMole
re post no. 20...

Most people are scared when they are victims of violent crimes, especially when they see a gun. HOWEVER, with all those people in the diner how come there is not info on the suspects on these news reports. I have not seen any report saying they are in custody.

Let's look at a HYPOTHETICAL print-out of a suspect on a HYPOTHETICAL crime report:

WMA
20
5-10
225
Shaved head, goatee, wispy mustache
blu skull cap, olive grn jkt/baggy blk pants/Nike type running shoes
1 gold tone heavy metal chain necklace
tt: none observed
weapons: 2 hand guns
words "FU AH All your money belongs to me"

Ok, if I was a reporter hearing the description on a scanner or reading it on a crime report print out; I would be telling the worried public in our HYPOTHETICAL situation that authorites are looking for:

A whte male, in his 20's, around 5-10 and 225 pounds. The suspect has a shaved head, a goatee and a wispy mustache. The suspect was last seen wearing a blue skull cap, an olive green jacket, baggy black pants and Nike type running shoes. He had a heavy gold metail chain necklace around his neck. The victim advised he had 2 handguns. Anyone seeing this HYPOTHETICAL suspect please contact your HYPOTHETICAL law enforcement authorities.


And that's my point. That was a horrendous crime. What do the suspects look like so the concerned public can be on the lookout for these guys.
29 posted on 01/18/2004 3:33:58 PM PST by Cindy
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To: All
NEW YORK...

http://nypost.com/news/regionalnews/16114.htm

"45 BULLETS FLY" (January 19, 2004)

By LARRY CELONA, MARK BULLIET and WILLIAM NEUMAN

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Investigators found 45 shell casings after the rapid-fire shootout - which some witnesses said they at first mistook for firecrackers in the run-up to the Chinese New Year. Five of the shells came from a .38-caliber revolver which was found beside the dead man.

Police also found six shells from a .45-caliber handgun and 34 shells from an AK-47."

===

http://nypost.com/news/regionalnews/16120.htm

"SURVEILLANCE SHOTS EXPOSE FACES OF BRAZEN DINER GUNMEN"
By LARRY CELONA


ARTICLE SNIPPET: "January 19, 2004 -- These are the coldblooded gunmen who shot eight people during an early-morning robbery at a Brooklyn diner, cops said.

Cops yesterday released the grainy photos, taken from a security video camera at the Galaxy Diner in East New York, in a bid to hunt down the men responsible for the Saturday robbery."
30 posted on 01/20/2004 1:16:03 AM PST by Cindy
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To: XHogPilot
Why didn't the patrons shoot back in self defense?

Because peasants do not have the right to arm themselves.

31 posted on 01/20/2004 12:55:24 PM PST by AndyTheBear
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