NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- A 65-year-old man faces charges of carrying an unlicensed handgun Thursday after he allegedly shot and killed a man who was trying to mug him in Queens this week.
Charles Foehner is being charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, but Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz hasn't decided whether to charge him with the actual killing as prosecutors weigh whether or not he was justified in using deadly force.
"This is a complicated case and we're going to review the evidence," Katz said Wednesday. "We just went to the crime scene. I will have comments for you after we investigate it."
Foehner shot Cody Gonzalez, 32, as Gonzalez tried to rob him with a sharp object outside Foehner's apartment at 82nd Avenue and Queens Boulevard in Kew Gardens around 2 a.m. Wednesday, police said.
Gonzalez was shot multiple times in the chest and pronounced dead at the scene.
The sharp object reportedly turned out to be a pen that Foehner thought was a knife.
Foehner turned himself in to police and was questioned Wednesday.
Investigators told WNBC that Foehner had a license for a shotgun and a rifle but not for the pistol used in the shooting. He also didn't have a concealed carry permit, according to the report.
Gonzalez suffered from mental illness and had been arrested about a dozen times in the past, including for robbery and burglary.
Members of Gonzalez's family told the Daily News that they don't blame the shooter if it was self-defense.
"We don't fault the shooter," Stephan Gonzalez, 35, told the outlet on Wednesday. "We all feel Cody should have been in a psych facility. If anything, the state failed him."
Related
Related
Related
