Bernhard Goetz biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Infamous person. Born Bernhard Hugo Goetz on November 7, 1947 in Queens, New York. The youngest of four children, Goetz was raised largely in upstate New York. His father, a German immigrant, owned a bookbinding business and 300-acre dairy farm. At the age of 12, however, Goetz saw family life take a dramatic turn after his father was arrested on charges of molesting two 15-year-old boys. The elder Goetz pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. To spare him further embarrassment, Bernhard was sent to Switzerland to attend boarding school. He eventually returned to the U.S. and enrolled at New York University, where he earned a degree in electrical and nuclear engineering. By the late 1970s, Goetz owned and operated a small business that specialized in calibrating high-end electronic equipment.

Goetz thrived in a world of machines and precise calculations, but dealing with people was another story. He was dismayed at what he viewed as the crumbling social structure of New York City, and pushed hard for city officials to clean up his neighborhood. Then, in January 1981, he was attacked by three black teenagers at a subway station. He was lucky to escape with just a knee injury, but two of the three assailants managed to escape. The other spent just a few hours at a police station. Goetz was furious and, before the year was out, he applied for a gun permit.

Shooting Incident

On December 22, 1984, Goetz entered an empty Manhattan train, carrying an unlicensed .38 caliber revolver. Also on the car were four teenagers: Troy Canty, Barry Allen, Darrell Cabey, and James Ramseur. As witness testimony later stated, Goetz had barely taken his seat when the young men approached Goetz for $5. When Goetz refused, Canty responded, "Give me your money." Suspecting he was being set up for another mugging, Goetz stood up and said, "You all can have it." Goetz started firing his revolver, wounding all four teens. When the train came to a stop, a startled Goetz ran out of the car and eventually fled the city, making his way to Concord, New Hampshire. Eight days after the shooting, Goetz finally turned himself into police.

The New York City that Goetz returned to was a different place than the one he'd left. New Yorkers, tired of the crime that had gripped their home, vaulted Goetz to hero status. Joan Rivers sent Goetz a telegram of "love and kisses" and said she would help out with his bail money. T-shirts celebrating Goetz's actions sprang up everywhere. Goetz, who posted his own $50,000 bail, wanted none of it. At least not at first. "I'm amazed at this celebrity status," he told the New York Post.