Bardonia, New York

From Burlington, Vermont’s TheChamplainChannel.com of February 15, 2005

With Gun At His Head, Jeweler Shoots Would-Be Robber

Barry Fixler was back at work in his jewelry store Tuesday, a day after he managed to draw his own gun and shoot a robber who was aiming a revolver at his head.

The suspect was in serious condition Tuesday after surgery at Nyack Hospital but was expected to survive, police said.

Two alleged confederates who fled after the shooting were arrested within 12 hours, one in Nanuet and one in Danbury, Conn.

Fixler said that while the incident was not "memorable," he feels he did what he had to.

"I'd be dead," he said in a phone interview. "My life was going to be over. That's what I thought about."

Detective Lt. Charles Delo of the Clarkstown police force, which covers Bardonia, said a review of the shooting on a surveillance videotape showed it to be justified. Fixler had a permit for his .38-caliber handgun.

Fixler, a 57-year-old ex-Marine, had to sidle along his counter with the robber's gun in his face to get to the spot where his handgun was hidden, he said.

"What Barry did may have been very brave, but he could have been very easily killed," Delo said.

Fixler told police two of the men came into his store, Barry's Estate Jewelry on Route 304, asked about engagement rings and then pulled their guns, one of them aiming his weapon at Fixler's head.