A senior citizen from New York who shot dead a would-be robber during an early morning confrontation has been sent to prison, not for the fatal shooting, but for the vast cache of illegal weapons police discovered in his home.
A Fatal Confrontation and a Claim of Self-Defence
Charles Foehner, 67, reported to jail this week to start a four-year sentence after pleading guilty to felony criminal possession of a weapon. His punishment stems entirely from the discovery of an illegal arsenal in his Queens apartment, not from the shooting itself that left 32-year-old Cody Gonzalez dead.
The incident occurred in the early hours of May 31, 2023, in Kew Gardens, Queens. According to investigators, Foehner was returning home around 2am after buying cigarettes when Gonzalez confronted him near 82nd Avenue and Queens Boulevard. Gonzalez demanded a cigarette and Foehner's phone before lunging at him. Foehner, believing the object in Gonzalez's hand was a knife, fired a revolver. The object was later found to be a pen.
The entire event was captured on building surveillance cameras. Foehner immediately called 911 and cooperated with police. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz decided not to pursue charges for the shooting, determining Foehner faced no criminal liability for Gonzalez's death.
The Dramatic Discovery of an Illegal Arsenal
The investigation took a sharp turn when homicide detectives executed a court-authorised search warrant at Foehner's home. What they found was described by prosecutors as a significant illegal firearms stockpile.
Inside the residence, authorities uncovered:
- 26 unlicensed and unregistered firearms
- 13,074 rounds of ammunition
- 152 large-capacity feeding devices, 10 of them loaded
- Two bulletproof vests
Four of the firearms were classified as assault weapons, and nearly all were operational. The cache included Glock pistols, Smith & Wesson revolvers, Mossberg shotguns, Norinco rifles, and a semi-automatic assault rifle.
"This stockpile was not a collection of your grandfather's harmless, inoperable, antique weapons," said DA Katz. "This was an arsenal of lethal firearms and assault weapons possessed in full violation of New York State law." Authorities noted Foehner held licenses for only a small fraction of the weapons recovered.
Plea Deal and Sentencing
Foehner was arrested the day after the shooting. On November 20, 2023, he pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. This week, Justice Cimino formally sentenced him to four years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision. He was remanded to the Eric M. Taylor Center.
Foehner, a retired doorman who had relocated to Pennsylvania after the shooting, described himself as a lifelong gun enthusiast and a 'doomsday prepper'. Reflecting on the fatal encounter, he told the New York Post, "Whatever the circumstances are, a guy is dead because of me. Maybe I should have taken the beating, but who knows where the beating stops."
Prosecutors emphasised the critical distinction in the case. While Foehner's use of a firearm in the confrontation was deemed lawful self-defence, the possession of the extensive illegal arsenal in his home constituted a grave public safety risk that demanded a custodial sentence.
