DEFENDANT: At his attempted-murder trial yesterday, Thomas Dunikowski explains what led to his rifle attack on a group of teens. (
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He says his family was under siege — so he grabbed his rifle.
A Brooklyn dad on trial for shooting at a pack of rowdy teens with his assault rifle testified yesterday that he opened fire only because he was terrified for the lives of his wife and baby son — and he thought one of the teens had a gun.
“I thought they were going to break into my house and attack my wife,” said Thomas Dunikowski, 32.
“I saw one hand with a shiny metal object . . . I thought it was a gun and he made a sudden movement towards my wife.”
The unemployed dad fired 27 shots from the upstairs window of his Marine Park home on June 18, 2011, hitting one teen in the neck and striking another with bullet fragments.
Dunikowski remained stoic on the stand as he described the “complete war zone” outside his house as dozens of drunken teens hurled threats at his family as they brandished a broken bottle and metal pipes pulled from scaffolding across the street.
“[They said,] ‘Motherf–ker, now we’re coming in to kill you!’ They told my wife to suck their d–ks,” Dunikowski said softly in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
Prosecutors have said the conflict started after the teens threw a beer can into a neighbor’s yard and escalated after Dunikowski punched one of the teens.
Dunikowski went upstairs, loaded his AR-15 Bushmaster and opened fire after the teen he thought held a gun moved toward the yard where his wife was standing, the defendant testified.
“What were you trying to do?” Assistant District Attorney John Sharples asked Dunikowski.
“Stop him from hurting my wife,” he answered.
“Did you consider yourself a hero that night?” Sharples pressed.
“Yes,” Dunikowski said.
Neighbors who filmed the fighting that led to the shooting can be heard on video saying, “Grab a chair, this is better than HBO,” and, “It’s Brooklyn. If this was Long Island there’d be six cop cars here already.”
Defense attorney Jay Schwitzman used the video to make the case that the neighborhood was dangerous and police presence was scarce — so his client was forced to take action himself.
Dunikowski, a former mortgage broker, was charged with multiple counts of attempted murder, and if convicted could get 25 years behind bars.
The defense rested after Dunikowski’s testimony. Attorneys for both sides will give their closing arguments before the Brooklyn Supreme Court jury and Judge Bruce Balter Monday.