NY man killed after shooting phone store clerk had been banned for making threats, slurs

NY phone store gunman had been banned for threats

NEW YORK MILLS, N.Y. — A man who shot a central New York AT&T phone store clerk had previously harassed and threatened employees so many times that the company banned him, cut off his cell phone service and lodged a complaint that led to his handgun permit being revoked.

Police say 79-year-old Abraham Dickan apparently became enraged about the loss of his gun license.

Two days after the revocation became permanent, he returned to the store in New York Mills, 40 miles east of Syracuse, on Thursday with a hit list in his pocket and wounded an employee.

An off-duty police officer then shot and killed Dickan.

AT&T sent a letter to Dickan in March banning him from the store, saying he had intimidated the staff and made racial slurs on multiple occasions, and had displayed a gun at least once before.

Information from: Observer-Dispatch, www.uticaod.com