Mother of bystander injured by gunman who shot at 'dangerous' Brooklyn teens hails shooter as hero

nydailynews.com ^ | 20 June, 2011 | Nicholas Rizzi AND Corky Siemaszko

[marktwain]

A Brooklyn gunman who opened fire on a pack of noisy teens was hailed as a hero Monday by the most unlikely of allies - the mother of the woman he inadvertently wounded.

Larisa Kaprovskaya said Thomas Dunikowski was just trying to protect them from local teens terrorizing their block.

"He shot because he wants to protect us," said Kaprovskaya, 50. "I don't know what would have happened to us if he didn't try to protect us. I appreciate him."

Kaprovskaya's 21-year-old daughter, Yana, was hit by shrapnel in her left leg when Dunikowski opened fire about 11:30p.m. Saturday.

Yana Kaprovskaya was not badly hurt, her mother said. She said Dunikowski stood up for them after the cops disregarded their pleas for help.

"It was so dangerous," the mom said. "I didn't know what was happening."

Dunikowski, 30, was slapped with a raft of charges for using a semiautomatic hunting rifle to open fire on the teens in Marine Park, cops said.

The wounded youths were identified as 17-year-old Francis Ruan and David Mahoney, 15, police said.

Kaprovskaya said Dunikowski is a family man who lives with his wife, Kimberly, and their 2-year-old son.

Another neighbor, John Westbay, felt sorry for the shooter.

"I can understand why he did it," Westbay said. "It's not the first time we've had this trouble."

Police said Monday they had no record of previous 911 calls from the shooter's home on Stuart St.

Meanwhile, Ruan's weeping mother said Dunikowski is a menace and that her son may never regain full movement in his arm because of the shooting.

"He should be put in jail for a long time," Miao Ruan said at Kings County Hospital, where her son was in stable condition.

The mother of one of the boys whom Francis Ruan was hanging out with when he was shot denied the kids were doing anything wrong.

"They did not provoke this," fumed Rose Bellantonio, 44. "Even if they were being rowdy, does that entitle an adult to fire at them with a gun?"

Dunikowski has a minor rap sheet - he was arrested in October for slashing the tires on his father-in-law's car, court records show.

The shooting started after about 30 teens hanging out on Dunikowski's stoop began knocking over garbage cans and vandalizing cars, neighbors said.

Kaprovskaya said Dunikowski told them to beat it, and the teens responded by hurling garbage.

Dunikowski punched Ruan in the head, breaking his glasses, witnesses said, but that wasn't enough to drive him - or the other kids - away.

Furious, Dunikowski grabbed an unlicensed rifle, opened a second-floor window - and began shooting, police said. Witnesses estimated he fired about 30 times.

One shot pierced Ruan's neck, and fragments from other rounds hit Mahoney in the left thigh and arm, police and friends of the victims said.

Dunikowski was arraigned on attempted murder and other lesser charges on Monday. He was ordered held on a $500,000 bond or $350,000 cash bail.

"These young kids started committing felonious acts to cars, houses, up and down the block," said Dunikowski's lawyer, Jay Schwitzman. "This is a case of self-defense."

Cops found Dunikowski in his bathroom brushing his teeth after the bloodshed, according to prosecutors, and he struggled to avoid being handcuffed.

[thefactor]

He didn't call 911. If he had and we had seen what these kids were doing, these kids woulda had some butt-whoopin coming.

All those things you mentioned are absolutely true, however, they are not street-level law enforcement.

There are too many city agencies doing too many things around here. Half of me applauds this guy, I kinda wish I was on the jury, if it does go to trial. Bottom line, I love this town and my job but I can't wait to retire and move south.

[Godzilla]

Feral kids will be treated like feral dogs as long as they keep acting that way. I can see more of this in the future, though I think a rock salt load from a shotgun may leave a more lasting memory for the little punks.

[Tammy8]

Yana Kaprovskaya was not badly hurt, her mother said. She said Dunikowski stood up for them after the cops disregarded their pleas for help.

The article says there was no record of the shooter calling police, but what about this woman who states the cops disregarded pleas for help? Is there a record of calls from her?

I swear reporters these days cannot write a coherent article to save their life.