Cops: Would-be thief fires gun in Hempstead

A gunman fired at -- and missed -- his would-be robbery victim during a botched stickup Saturday morning in Hempstead, Nassau County police said.

The 36-year-old victim had been walking near West Marshall Street and St. Regis Place at about 9:25 a.m. when the robber approached and brandished a silver handgun.

"You know what this is!" the robber said before shooting once, at close range, and missing, a police spokeswoman said.

The victim wasn't hurt and the robber didn't take anything. He ran north on St. Regis Place.

No one has been charged.

The crime, being investigated by Nassau's Williston Park-based Third Squad detectives, was just north of the Southern State Parkway and east of Peninsula Boulevard.