Jeweler OK after shooting

The owner of a Valley Stream jewelry store was shot during a robbery last week but was not seriously injured. Three suspects are in custody, but police say they believe the gunman is still at large.

According to police, two men and a woman came to Papandrew Jewelers, at 11 Sunrise Plaza, shortly after the store’s 7 p.m. closing on Dec. 9. Police said they were pretending to be customers interested in buying an engagement ring. Andrew Papandrew, who was the only person working, allowed them to come in. A few minutes later, according to a police report, a fourth person arrived, and within 30 seconds he pulled out a gun and announced a robbery.

At that point, police said, Papandrew went behind a display case and grabbed his own gun. The gunman jumped over the counter and shots were exchanged, with Papandrew suffering a gunshot wound to his upper torso, according to police.

Authorities say Papandrew managed to regain his composure and hold one of the men, 28-year-old Bryan Kenner of 147th Street in Ozone Park, Queens, in the store at gun point until police arrived. The three others fled the store, but two were eventually arrested: 20-year-old Gloria Cortes of Hill Street in Brooklyn was caught at Rockaway and Jamaica avenues by Lynbrook detectives who were assisting in the search, and police arrested 24-year-old Edward Hamilton of Osborne Street in Brooklyn at his home. The gunman has not been apprehended, according to police.

Papandrew was treated at South Nassau Communities Hospital, but was back at his store the following day. “I’m extremely lucky,” he said, noting that many people have said he must have been terrified during the ordeal. “I didn’t really have time to be terrified,” he said, because the incident unfolded so fast.

Kenner, Cortes and Hamilton were charged with first-degree attempted robbery, two counts of second-degree attempted robbery, second-degree criminal use of a firearm and second-degree assault. Detective Sgt. John Giambrone, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department’s Robbery Squad, said the three suspects have not been connected to any other robberies. “This is our first jewelry store robbery so far this year [in Nassau County],” he said.