By Paul J. Condra
They're not letting me see him, she kept saying as she was held back behind the yellow police tape stretched around the entrance of Our Lady of Peace R.C. Church. I don't even know if he's okay.
Gerry Denk, meanwhile, sat inside the church, perfectly fine, though probably a bit shaken by the events that had just occurred: Two people were shot dead in the middle of Mass he attended the Rev. Lawrence Penzes, 50, and a parishioner, Eileen Tosner, 73. But, as many have speculated, there may have been even more killed that day if it weren't for Denk's quick and decisive actions.
This guy totally deserves the highest award you could ever give him, said Steve Grogan, ex-captain of the Lynbrook Fire Department. Grogan had the privilege of speaking with the media-shy Denk one night last week as they worked security together at the church during Penzes' viewing. This is the story as Grogan heard it directly from Denk.
Denk arrived a couple minutes late for the 9 a.m. Mass he always attends. As he walked across the school yard, he saw a man in a long trench coat get out of his car and walk up the steps. Denk thought the man looked dressed for a funeral, and thought there'd be no Mass. Then the man came back down the steps, got in a car and drove off.
Denk went into the church and sat in the last pew, where he always does. Then he noticed the man in the trench coat had returned. He paced shortly along the back wall of the nave, then returned to the vestibule.
Thinking that the man was acting suspiciously, Denk stood up and looked through a small window in a side door on the east side of the church that leads from the nave to the vestibule. He saw the man moving around in the vestibule. Then he saw the double doors that lead to the center aisle of the nave pull back open and the barrel of a gun stick out into the church.
At that point, Denk was running through the vestibule, charging the man in the trench coat, who squeezed off two shots before Denk reached him. The other four shots were fired as Denk tackled the gunman to the floor, causing the bullets to spray up into the church. The first two shots hit the Rev. Penzes and Ms. Tosner.
Denk wrestled with the man and was able to take the gun away from him. Then the shooter fled out of the church, up Fowler Avenue. Holding the gun, Denk pursued the man all the way to 56 Fowler Ave. The shooter ran inside and Denk stood out front with the gun raised as he wasn't sure what might happen next. That's when off-duty Lynbrook Police Lt. Gary Gnack, who was also at the Mass, arrived to help secure the area.
Later that day, police arrested 34-year-old Peter Troy from 56 Fowler Ave, and charged him with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. Troy allegedly lunged at officers with a folding knife when they beat down his front door. He is currently being held without bail.
Police said they believe Troy intended to shoot the priest, and don't know if he planned on shooting anybody else. Still, they credit Denk with stopping a massacre that could have been much worse.
Grogan reiterated the need to recognize Denk with an official award for his valor, adding the gunman was probably bigger than Denk.
There's not a lot of meat on this guy, he said.
