William T. Petuskey saved an indeterminate number of persons during a bank holdup, Elizabeth, New Jersey, December 5, 1962. While one gunman stood just inside the door of a bank menacing the employees and customers with a revolver, another bandit, also holding a gun, took money from two tellers. When he moved to the next teller’s cage and started to pick up more money, a man making a deposit seized the bandit. They grappled and fell to the floor, where the gun was discharged and wounded the bandit in the leg. As the man at the door began shooting Petuskey, 65, bank vault attendant, feared the customer would be killed and ran 25 feet to him and the other man struggling on the floor. Petuskey threw himself atop the bandit as the customer, who had obtained possession of the gun, fired at the other man. The customer and the gunman at the door exchanged shots until they had emptied their revolvers. One bullet struck the side of Petuskey’s head, passed through his cheek, and lodged in his shoulder. The bandit, leaving the money behind, ran to his companion, who had reloaded his revolver. They fled in an automobile but later were apprehended. Petuskey recovered in five weeks.
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