Deli shooting: Man targeted former boss, cops say
Revenge may have been the motive in a Monday shooting that left two men injured outside a deli in normally serene Chappaqua.
Hengjun Chao is accused of opening fire outside Lange's Little Store & Delicatessen at 7 a.m., injuring two men, police said. Dr. Dennis Charney, the dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was one of the men injured, according to court records and a statement by a Mount Sinai official. Charney fired Chao as an assistant professor and researcher at Mount Sinai in 2010, court records show.
Chao, 49, of Tuckahoe, faces an attempted murder charge. He is being held at Westchester County jail until his next court date Sept. 7. Charney was being treated at an area hospital for non life-threatening injuries Monday evening. The other unidentified shooting victim, a bystander, was treated for injuries and released.
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Mount Sinai President and CEO Dr. Kenneth Davis described the medical school and affiliated health system staff as shocked by the shooting. He said Chao was a former employee terminated for cause in 2010.
“This is an extremely disturbing event,” Davis said. “I am speaking on behalf of the Mount Sinai community in extending our best wishes to Dr. Charney and his family.”
The shooting turned the normally quiet area, located about a mile from the home of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, into a chaotic scene at 382 King St., outside of Lange's Deli.
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"It was possibly anger towards one of the victims," New Castle Police Chief Charles Ferry said, "... because of a past employment issue. I think he came there with the intent of shooting someone.
"People in the deli saw it happen," Ferry said.
When officers arrived they found the two victims with buckshot wounds and also the suspect, Ferry said. Chao was no longer in possession of the gun when officers arrived, Ferry said. The gun was found in a vehicle's trunk. The chief said Chao is being cooperative with authorities.
The lawsuit
After being fired for research misconduct, Chao lost a federal lawsuit against the Manhattan medical school, co-workers and administrators, including Charney, court records show.
Chao contended he tried to blow the whistle on a colleague for falsifying medical research, but ended up being fired as retaliation, court records show.
Court records show that Chao accused Mount Sinai and administrators of wrongful termination, defamation and discrimination. The lawsuit was seeking at least $171,500 in lost wages and potentially millions of dollars more in other damages.
The medical school launched an investigation of Chao after he accused the colleague of wrongdoing. School investigators contended Chao falsified his own research and he was fired because of the findings, court records show.
Chao contended he was fired in part because of his Chinese heritage. He was born in China, and graduated from Hunan Medical University and Peking Union Medical College before coming to the United States in 1997, court records show.
He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1997 to 2002, when he was hired by Mount Sinai as a researcher, court records show.
Court documents described Chao’s firing as the culmination of a heated battle between Mount Sinai professors in the high-stakes world of medical research.
The medical school’s internal investigation of Chao’s accusations resulted in thousands of pages of testimony by doctors, administrators and lab staff, court records show, and the investigation report concluded that Chao manipulated medical research data.
Chao, who researched blood diseases and cancer, cited his colleagues’ testimony as the reason for the defamation and discrimination claims in the lawsuit. He noted one colleague described him as authoritative because of his Chinese background and “cultural” differences, and others called him remarkably ignorant and sloppy to ruin his reputation, court records show.
A federal judge sided with Mount Sinai and the decision was upheld by an appellate court in 2012, records show.
Still, the court records provided a glimpse into Chao’s rise-and-fall at one of the most prestigious medical research programs in the nation.
Prior to being fired, Chao noted he received several pay raises at Mount Sinai. From 2007 to 2009, his salary jumped from $115,000 to $142,000. He was paid $180,000 in salary and other benefits before getting fired, court records show.
In 2007, Mount Sinai renewed its contract with Chao for another four years, court records show, and he also received millions of dollars in research grants and had work published in scientific journals.
The deli and a section of the Walgreens parking lot across the street were cordoned off with yellow police tape all day Monday as police investigated.
"Residents should be assured that the town's police officials are working diligently to investigate this morning's tragic shooting at Lange's Deli," New Castle Supervisor Robert J. Greenstein said in a statement.
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the New Castle Police Detective Division at 914-238-7295 or the main desk at 914-238-4423.
The deli is about a mile from the Old House Lane home of Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton listed Lange’s Deli among some of his favorite local restaurants in a brief videotaped interview that was on display in 2004 at the New Castle Historical Society, which is at the Horace Greeley House in Chappaqua. In that interview, Clinton said he liked his adopted hometown “because it’s small, friendly and beautiful.”
Kenny Ackerman, a 12-year Chappaqua resident, said he lives down the block from Hillary and Bill Clinton.
"You've always got the Clintons walking around here," he said. "This is a very quiet area."
Stefanie Schwartz, who has lived in Chappaqua for 42 years, called the shooting "very, very sad."
"It makes you realize no place is guarded against these types of incidents, even the safe, little town of Chappaqua," she said.
