It was beyond late at the Parkside Pub in Queens, New York — just minutes before 4 a.m. Monday — when a 24-year-old walked into the neighborhood bar, pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and demanded cash from the register.
Police said the perp also tried to rob the three night-owl patrons still remaining at the pub, the New York Daily News reported.
But one of the customers turned out to be a 69-year-old ex-New York City cop who pulled out his own handgun and shot the suspect in the head, police told the paper.
WABC-TV said the ex-officer fired one shot and the would-be robber died at the scene.
Police said the former officer served seven years in upper Manhattan before he retired in 1975 with three-quarters disability pension, the Daily News said.
Neither the ex-cop or the would-be robber have been identified, the paper noted. Detectives were interviewing the former officer, WABC reported.
