Suicidal Student Gets Police to Shoot Him
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SYOSSET, N.Y. — Police said they fatally shot a college student who threatened them with a gun during a traffic stop, only to learn later that he was suicidal over a $6,000 gambling debt and that the gun was a fake.
Moshe Pergament, 19, “had a death wish,” Officer Bruce Benson said.
“Tell the police officers that I’m sorry, but I wanted to die,” Pergament said in a note left in his car.
Pergament, a Nassau Community College student from Manhasset Hills, was speeding and driving erratically in an apparent effort to get stopped by police Friday night, police said.
After he got pulled over on the Long Island Expressway, Pergament pulled a silver toy revolver from his waistband and refused to drop it, police said.
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