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Teens toying with a rifle fire shots into ex-cop's apartment
Thursday, June 01, 2006
By DOUG AUER and KIAWANA RICH
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Two teen-agers fooling around with a rifle yesterday accidentally fired two shots into the adjacent apartment of a retired cop, police said, sparking a massive emergency response that closed down part of West Brighton.
No one was injured during the incident, which began shortly before 5 p.m. inside 290 Myrtle Ave.
"I was sitting in my apartment and I heard a round of shots and they came through the bathroom wall," said retired police Sgt. Ronald Armfield, 49. "One gunshot came through the wall and one gunshot just broke the tiles."
The 21-year NYPD veteran immediately called 911, told the operator he was a retired member of the force and that shots had been fired at his apartment.
Before cops arrived, Armfield recovered an unspent shell from his bathtub.
The shots apparently were fired from a neighboring apartment, where Corey Almon, 18, and a second youth who wasn't identified due to his age were playing with Almon's .22 caliber rifle, police said. Almon shares the apartment with his mother, Kim DePrima, 35.
Although the two teens and Armfield were quickly removed from the apartment building, cops shut down Myrtle between Clove Road and Elizabeth Street for fear that more armed suspects might be holed up inside.
Officers also closed off Clove between Forest and Delafield avenues and Forest between Clove and Manor Road.
Within minutes, heavily armed Emergency Service Unit officers from Truck 5 in New Dorp and Truck 6 in Brooklyn responded, storming the building in helmets and bulletproof vests with automatic rifles at the ready.
More cops remained outside, taking cover behind an oversized, black, bulletproof shield.
"I just moved here a month and a half ago and this is absurd," said Patricia Bobes, who lives in the same building as the teen-age suspects. "You see this stuff in the movies."
After the Evidence Collection Unit retrieved the rifle at around 6:30 p.m., placing it in a long, white cardboard box, the roads were reopened.
Charges against Almon and the unidentified teen were still pending as of early this morning, said a police spokeswoman.
They were expected to be arraigned today in Stapleton Criminal Court.
Armfield identified the two teens as his neighbors but said that was the extent of the relationship.
"I live next door to them but I don't know them and I don't care to know them," said Armfield, who retired from NYPD's Staten Island Intelligence Division, and also spent time with the Staten Island Narcotics Squad and in the North Shore's 120th Precinct.
But, the retired sergeant did note that at least one of the suspects -- Almon -- had prior run-ins with the law.
"This the second time for the same people, because in January one of the guys from the apartment stabbed someone," said Armfield.
Advance records show that on Jan 10 at 1 a.m., Almon stabbed his mother's ex-boyfriend Theodore Shearin in the neck after the ex-convict broke into the apartment.
Shearin apparently was upset that Almon's mother had broken off their relationship and threatened Almon with a large kitchen knife.
The two wrestled and Almon took hold of the weapon, using it to stab Shearin in self-defense, his lawyer claimed at the Feb. 7 grand jury indictment hearing.
Charges of attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault were dropped, according to the Staten Island district attorney's office.
Previously, in October 2004, Almon was convicted on a plea of felony gun-possession. He was sentenced, as a youthful offender, to 30 days in jail and five years' probation, and his court file was sealed.
Joe DePrima, 25, of Westerleigh, was standing outside the building following yesterday's shooting, identifying Almon as his nephew and as the owner of the rifle.
"We're still trying to find out why," said DePrima, as he tried to reach the boy's mother on a cell phone.
DePrima said Almon's mother was working at the time of the shooting, leaving the teens alone with Almon's weapon.
"I know he carried a gun, but I didn't know he had that one," said DePrima, referring to the rifle.
He added that Almon, who recently got his general equivalency diploma and was searching for a job, had not been troubled.
"We don't think he deliberately did it. We think it was an accident," said DePrima.
Although no one was hurt during the gunfire, Armfield believes it's an accident that shouldn't have happened.
"I am safe, my wife is safe and luckily she wasn't home and no one was in the bathroom at the time the shots were fired," he said. "I just did the right thing. I didn't go off half-cocked. I called 911 and let the cops take care of it. But I intend to go to court and be a witness if they ask me to."
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1149167742220720.xml&coll=1
Thursday, June 01, 2006
By DOUG AUER and KIAWANA RICH
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Two teen-agers fooling around with a rifle yesterday accidentally fired two shots into the adjacent apartment of a retired cop, police said, sparking a massive emergency response that closed down part of West Brighton.
No one was injured during the incident, which began shortly before 5 p.m. inside 290 Myrtle Ave.
"I was sitting in my apartment and I heard a round of shots and they came through the bathroom wall," said retired police Sgt. Ronald Armfield, 49. "One gunshot came through the wall and one gunshot just broke the tiles."
The 21-year NYPD veteran immediately called 911, told the operator he was a retired member of the force and that shots had been fired at his apartment.
Before cops arrived, Armfield recovered an unspent shell from his bathtub.
The shots apparently were fired from a neighboring apartment, where Corey Almon, 18, and a second youth who wasn't identified due to his age were playing with Almon's .22 caliber rifle, police said. Almon shares the apartment with his mother, Kim DePrima, 35.
Although the two teens and Armfield were quickly removed from the apartment building, cops shut down Myrtle between Clove Road and Elizabeth Street for fear that more armed suspects might be holed up inside.
Officers also closed off Clove between Forest and Delafield avenues and Forest between Clove and Manor Road.
Within minutes, heavily armed Emergency Service Unit officers from Truck 5 in New Dorp and Truck 6 in Brooklyn responded, storming the building in helmets and bulletproof vests with automatic rifles at the ready.
More cops remained outside, taking cover behind an oversized, black, bulletproof shield.
"I just moved here a month and a half ago and this is absurd," said Patricia Bobes, who lives in the same building as the teen-age suspects. "You see this stuff in the movies."
After the Evidence Collection Unit retrieved the rifle at around 6:30 p.m., placing it in a long, white cardboard box, the roads were reopened.
Charges against Almon and the unidentified teen were still pending as of early this morning, said a police spokeswoman.
They were expected to be arraigned today in Stapleton Criminal Court.
Armfield identified the two teens as his neighbors but said that was the extent of the relationship.
"I live next door to them but I don't know them and I don't care to know them," said Armfield, who retired from NYPD's Staten Island Intelligence Division, and also spent time with the Staten Island Narcotics Squad and in the North Shore's 120th Precinct.
But, the retired sergeant did note that at least one of the suspects -- Almon -- had prior run-ins with the law.
"This the second time for the same people, because in January one of the guys from the apartment stabbed someone," said Armfield.
Advance records show that on Jan 10 at 1 a.m., Almon stabbed his mother's ex-boyfriend Theodore Shearin in the neck after the ex-convict broke into the apartment.
Shearin apparently was upset that Almon's mother had broken off their relationship and threatened Almon with a large kitchen knife.
The two wrestled and Almon took hold of the weapon, using it to stab Shearin in self-defense, his lawyer claimed at the Feb. 7 grand jury indictment hearing.
Charges of attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault were dropped, according to the Staten Island district attorney's office.
Previously, in October 2004, Almon was convicted on a plea of felony gun-possession. He was sentenced, as a youthful offender, to 30 days in jail and five years' probation, and his court file was sealed.
Joe DePrima, 25, of Westerleigh, was standing outside the building following yesterday's shooting, identifying Almon as his nephew and as the owner of the rifle.
"We're still trying to find out why," said DePrima, as he tried to reach the boy's mother on a cell phone.
DePrima said Almon's mother was working at the time of the shooting, leaving the teens alone with Almon's weapon.
"I know he carried a gun, but I didn't know he had that one," said DePrima, referring to the rifle.
He added that Almon, who recently got his general equivalency diploma and was searching for a job, had not been troubled.
"We don't think he deliberately did it. We think it was an accident," said DePrima.
Although no one was hurt during the gunfire, Armfield believes it's an accident that shouldn't have happened.
"I am safe, my wife is safe and luckily she wasn't home and no one was in the bathroom at the time the shots were fired," he said. "I just did the right thing. I didn't go off half-cocked. I called 911 and let the cops take care of it. But I intend to go to court and be a witness if they ask me to."
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1149167742220720.xml&coll=1
