HARLEM STORE OWNER KILLS 2 WOULD BE ROBBERS & OPENS UP FOR BUSINESS THE NEXT DAY!

There was spattered blood and holes from shotgun pellets in the door, but Charles (Gus) Augusto was back in business Friday, a day after blasting two would-be robbers to death and wounding two more.
Sitting in his Harlem store, the 72-year-old businessman said he wished he hadn't been forced to pull the trigger, but added, "I had no choice."

"I would have been happy if they'd all run out the door," he told the Daily News. "I'm sick to my stomach over it."

Augusto said he told the gunman who'd just pistol-whipped his clerk to clear out, but the bandit just wouldn't listen.

"I'm sad I couldn't talk him out of it," he said. "I'm sad there's mothers and fathers with no sons today."
Augusto said he has some idea what they must be feeling because his son, Charles, killed himself with a gun a dozen years ago and "the pain never goes away."

"I don't feel like a hero," he added. "I would have felt like a hero if I could have talked that kid into going home."

The tragedy began at 3 p.m. Thursday when four thieves burst into Blue Flame, a restaurant-supply business on W. 125th St. near Amsterdam Ave.

They apparently hadn't noticed the words "Abandon all hope ye who enter here" that some joker had written in black marker over the front door.

In his first interview since the shooting, Augusto told the News what happened before he reached for his 12-gauge shotgun and began firing.

"I'm sitting here minding my own business and they come in," he said. "Next thing I look and there's a kid standing there with a gun pointed at \[secretary Dorothy Hunt\] wanting to know where the cash was."

As one of the suspects beat Augusto's store clerk, Toxie "J.B." Hall, another asked Augusto, "Where's the cash?"

"I told this kid, 'We don't have any money,'" Augusto said.

"I asked him, 'Why don't you just put your gun down and go home and we'll forget about this thing? Someone's gonna get hurt. There's no money - you're gonna get in trouble. You're wasting your time.'"

Augusto said for a second he thought he'd gotten through to him. But then another robber, who was wearing a red shirt, told his buddy to ignore Augusto and resumed pounding Hall.

It was then that Augusto reached for the shotgun he bought two decades ago - and hoped he'd never have to use.

"I got up and pointed it down there and I fired about three rounds," he said. "I wasn't aiming at no one directly."

Augusto's three blasts felled all four bandits, ages 21 to 29. Two were killed. Two others staggered outside the store and were nabbed by cops. They were taken to St. Luke's Hospital in stable condition.

"They were beating up on J.B., so I shot them," Augusto said. "They were probably going to work us all over. You know me - I'm not going to take anything lying down."

Hall, 35, said he owed his life to Augusto.

"I worked for that guy since I was 19," he said. "He looked after me tremendously. Gus is a good dude."

Born in Yonkers and still living in Westchester County, Augusto said he is a father of two other children and has been married 48 years. He said he learned how to handle a gun while serving in the Coast Guard.

Police are investigating whether Augusto's gun was properly licensed. He said the license may have expired.

"It was sitting there for 20 years - I didn't know if it was gonna' work," he said.