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Storeowner cleared in fatal Worcester shooting

E-Mail|Link|Comments () February 6, 2009 12:53 PM

By Globe Staff

The owner of a Worcester liquor store was acting in self-defense when he shot to death a man who attempted to rob the store at gunpoint in December, prosecutors said today.

"A thorough review of the investigation and evidence has revealed that the store owner acted in self defense and in the defense of another," Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. said in a statement. "He and his brother were put in fear for their lives."

Two men wearing masks entered Big Bob's Liquors on Richmond Avenue at about 10 p.m. on Dec. 10. At least one of the men brandished a handgun.

Robert "Big Bob" Varderesian was sitting behind the counter, while his brother, Kevin, counted cash from the register.

The gunman pressed a gun to Kevin Varderesian's head and told him to hand over the cash. Robert Varderesian pulled his gun from his waistband and shot the gunman. The gunman's accomplice fled the store on foot, prosecutors said.

Evan L. Rivera, 40, of Worcester died later that night of multiple gunshot wounds at the University Massachusetts Medical Center on Lake Avenue. The other would-be robber is still at large.

The killing rattled shopkeepers in the tight-knit neighborhood where it occurred, midway between Newton and Tatnuck squares. Many of the business owners were immigrants, who said the area was safe, and they could not recall any armed robberies in many years, the Globe reported in December.