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Police revealed the identity of the 22-year-old man killed in yesterday’s shootout near P.S. 194 in Gerritsen Beach: George D’Amato Jr., the son of a retired court officer.

His father, George D’Amato Sr., told the New York Post:

His devastated dad, George D’Amato Sr., said his son — who “had minor scrapes with the law, nothing serious” — worked at a Duane Reade, but yesterday told him “he wanted a day off.”

“I told him to go to work,” said the father, a former court officer.

“I am retired law-enforcement myself. I know what it’s like. I can’t blame the officer. He did what he had to do,” the dad said.

Over at GerritsenBeach.net they’ve dug up D’Amato’s police record, which appears to be a history of minor property damage and fights. All told, the residents of the community who frequent the site – some of who knew D’Amato – appear to agree the police officer did what he had to do. But always eager to find something to rabidly bicker about, commenters turned to discussing whether the kid “got what he deserved.” Your thoughts?

From the NYPD Deputy Commission of Public Information’s office:

On Monday March 8, 2010 at approximately 1510 hours, in the rear of 3117 Avenue W (P.S. 194), in the confines of the 61 Precinct, police received a 911 call of a man with a gun. Upon arrival, a uniformed police officer encountered a M/W/22 who pointed what appeared to be a silver handgun at the officer. The officer discharged three (3) rounds, striking the suspect. EMS transported the suspect to Coney Island Hospital where he is pronounced dead at 1611 hours. The Investigation is ongoing.

The statement came via GerritsenBeach.net, which also says the person with the toy gun was a Gerritsen Beach kid that lived on Ebony Court. We can’t confirm that.

Related Stories:
BREAKING: Police Shooting Near P.S. 194

(Courtesy of nolastname)

UPDATE #2: As readers of our Twitter account may know, when we hit the scene we heard a few new things circling amongst reporters. Police fired three shots at around 3:10 p.m. at a 22-year-old white male wielding what appeared to be a gun. The object turned out to be a toy gun. The 22-year-old was pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital. (6:40 p.m.)

Original story

There was a police shooting around 4 p.m. today near P.S. 194, on Avenue W and Knapp Street.

From News 12:

NYPD officials say one person has been shot by officers near P.S. 194. The person was taken to Coney Island Hospital, authorities say. Officials at P.S. 194 say no students were harmed in the incident.

UPDATE: Knapp Street between Avenue W and Avenue V has been closed off by police, and news vans are on the scene. (4:33 p.m.)

Perhaps waiting until the coldest days of the year may not have been in Timmy’s Donuts’ best interests, but the former Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins chain at 2302 Knapp Street (and Avenue W) has unveiled a new change to their cozy little store: a Turkey Hill Ice Cream counter.

Local speculation that Tim Horton’s was taking over can now be set to rest. The selection does not seem to be anywhere near 32 flavors but in the coming (and hopefully warmer) weeks, hopefully they’ll be the coolest new treat in the Bay.

Photo courtesy of GerritsenBeach.net

Knapp Street Pizza (2157 Knapp Street near Avenue V) is advertising a generous $1-a-ticket raffle drawing. The raffle will be drawn on January 1 at 3 p.m. The prize? Free pizza every week for the rest of your life! Oh, and some other stuff:

1. One Pizza Every Week for Life
2. 42 Inch Tv
3. Digital Camera
4. iPod
5. $100 Gift Certificate

[via GerritsenBeach.net]

(Photo of Wonder Woman NYC Marathon 2009 courtesy of Emily Dolan, hosted at Flickr)

Today is the first Sunday in November — the one day a year when thousands of people from all over the world converge in NYC to run in the world’s most-watched marathon — the NYC Marathon. American, Meb Keflizighi, won the men’s race and Derartu Tulu was the best of the women.

While the race does not come anywhere near Sheepshead Bay, it does go from Southern Brooklyn and onward. There’s nothing more exciting than when the fittest people in the world are racing through Southern Brooklyn toward their destination in the greatest city in the world (borough, whatever).

Announcing it as a “Halloween cross-over fact”, the Huffington Post tells us that the founder of the marathon was a native of Transylvania. Yesterday being Halloween, a day of fun, and revelry, it is quite a contrast between the alcohol-flowing with costumed party-goers last night, compared to the adrenaline-flowing, dry-runners from this morning.

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Blockbuster has some new competition in the neighborhood, but it’s nothing for the few remaining ma-and-pa video stores to cheer about. The ARM – automatic rental machine – known as RedBox is spreading like wildfire across the country, and is growing its presence in Sheepshead Bay. RedBox is an instant $1/day DVD rental kiosk containing approximately 200 of the latest DVD movie releases. While the company has had one machine operating at the Stop & Shop on East 17th for a number of years now, two new RedBox kiosks have popped up: one at the Knapp Street 7/11 (on Voorhies Avenue), and the other at the  Coney Island Avenue 7/11 (on Avenue Y).

According to the company’s corporate history, RedBox was originally owned by McDonalds but sold to Coinstar in 2007. If any more kiosks come to the neighborhood or it’s surrounding environs we can expect them to show up at other 7/11’s, and possibly McDonalds or Walgreens.

So, where does that leave Blockbuster, the last of which in the area is on Nostrand Ave between Y and X? Considering they’ve been reinstating late fees, it doesn’t leave them with much of a leg to stand on. And so the Blockbuster death clock ticks away…

(FYI: You can get a free RedBox rental for signing up for the service’s newsletter or SMS alerts)

Ed. Note – The original article listed the Nostrand Avenue 7/11 on Avenue Y as having a RedBox. It doesn’t.

When I pull into a gas station, I go with the mentality that even a tap against one of the pumps will lead to an explosion that’ll take out half of Brooklyn. Sure, it’s not realistic, but it keeps me from making an irresponsible move. The driver who nailed this pump at the Mobile station on Knapp Street and Gerritsen Avenue should’ve been thinking more like me. We’re not exactly sure what happened here, as the attendant on hand kept mum about the incident, but we do know it happened last night. The truck there now wasn’t involved; it’s there to protect people from being hurt. What’s going on in Brooklyn these days? Cars ramming gas pumps? Autos going for a swim? Buses forgetting that they can’t weave in traffic like bikers? It must be because 2012 is closing in. Damn Mayans…

(Photos and tip courtesy of Arthur B.)

Arthur B. sent in this photo of an accident on the east-bound side of the Belt Parkway near Knapp Street. Arthur witnessed two ambulances, three fire trucks, and a person in a wheelchair, so it’s likely someone was hurt. Drivers beware: it appears the accident caused moderate-to-heavy traffic delays. According to Traffic.com, there is a 20-minute delay going towards Long Island, and 10 minutes heading towards the Verrazano Bridge.

ABC Local Eyewitness News reports that the Just In Time Pharmacy on Knapp Street, along with a number of other stores in Brooklyn and Queens, was robbed twice by a pair of gun-wielding thugs.

The robberies occurred on Tuesday, April 7, 2009 and Saturday, May 30, 2009. In both incidents, the robbers entered the store and forced the workers to hand over cash and drugs held in storage. Frightened employees followed the instructions of the gun-wielding thieves and violence was avoided both times.

One of the supervising pharmacists told us:

In the first incident, all the workers were here in the store. They [the thieves] walked into the door 20 minutes after the store had opened up. One guy remained in the front, and a customer was right behind them. One of the guys stood right next to the customer. The other guy walked directly up to the front and put a gun to the cashier and told her not to panic and give him everything that he wants. He said that we won’t get hurt.

In the second incident, I wasn’t there, but thieves were a lot more aggressive than the first time and put the workers on the floor, then said, “you know the procedure”. That’s how we knew they were the same guys as before. They were mainly interested in the narcotics.

Since the incidents have occurred, this Sheepshead Bay community-minded pharmacy has taken extra measures to ensure the safety of their employees and customers.

Their video system installed captured the two robbers, but was not a deterrent to their second crime, so store owners have added a buzzer system and bulletproof glass. You can see video of the thieves robbing another store on the Eyewitness News website.

Let’s hope that customers are not deterred from entering the store, now that they have to ring a bell. This full-service pharmacy has been operating six days a week since 2004, providing customers with their medications, blood pressure checks, and everything else you need in a local drug store.

So if you find yourself at the crossroad where Marine Park, Gerritsen Beach, and Sheepshead Bay meet, stop in and show them your support.

Just In Time Pharmacy
2126 Knapp Street
Brooklyn, NY 11229
located between Ave U & Ave V
(718) 332-5474
Open from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. everyday, except Sunday