After the robbery, Top in Town Wireless in Astoria was a mess with phone cases scattered across the floor, shelves knocked over, and shell casings scattered about from the bullets that struck the owner, who remained hospitalized after surgery Friday evening.
The owner's brother stood behind the police tape, wishing this could have been just a normal Friday night.
"We were supposed to go to dinner together - and I was calling him that 'what time are you picking me up from the home' and he said 'I just got shot, can you make your way here," said Gurpreet Singh.
Gurpreet raced to the store, where he discovered the aftermath of his brother's struggle with two armed robbers. Police say the robbers wanted his watch, but the owner, Kunwarjee Singh, would not give his Rolex up without a fight.
"I'm pretty sure he's a tough man himself. He might have given them a fight because I know my brother - he doesn't give up to the robbers so easily," said Gurpreet.
Police say the robbers ultimately stole the watch and shot the 40-year-old business owner just before 7 p.m. Friday. His brother says he was shot three times in the abdomen and in the legs.
The cell-phone store on Steinway Street was burglarized a few years ago, another business owner recalls.
"We talked about how do we secure our businesses and he had a really good lock - the gate was down - they came with an electric wire cutter - this was a serious production when they robbed him the last time," said Michelangelo Pinto.
However, it was never violent until now.
No one is more worried than Gurpreet - it is impossible for him to feel safe.
"I'm just very confused with all this. I have no words, but crime is going up. We actually close at 7, 7:15 these days. We even lock our doors at every location because we don't know what's gonna come in the nighttime," Gurpreet says.
The two armed robbers are on the run and the victim had to undergo surgery to remove the bullets. He is in stable condition.
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