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Report: Death of federal agent may have been "friendly fire"

John Capano (inset) died while trying to subdue a suspect in robbery at this pharmacy in Seaford, N.Y., Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011. AP Photos/Department of Justice; Paul Mazza

(CBS/AP) SEAFORD, N.Y. - The shot that killed an off-duty federal agent who was trying to confront a Long Island pharmacy robber may have come from a retired officer who came to the scene to help.

A law enforcement source tells Newsday that the bullet that killed John Capano on New Year's Eve day likely came from the gun of former Nassau County lieutenant Christopher Geraghty.

Capano, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, was at the drugstore to pick up medication for his father when police believe James McGoey, 43, entered Charlie's Family Pharmacy with what turned out to be a pellet gun and announced a hold-up. Capano is believed to have followed McGoey to the door and confronted him.

Meanwhile, someone ran into a nearby deli owned by the retired Nassau County officer and told of the robbery-in-progress. The retired officer and an off-duty NYPD officer, who was a customer in the deli, went to the pharmacy.

When they arrived, they saw Capano and McGoey struggling outside the store. It is unclear who fired the next shots, but Capano and McGoey ended up dying of gunshot wounds. Police are still running ballistics tests to determine with certainty who shot whom.

Reportedly, a source told the New York Post that while he was being treated for trauma at a nearby hospital, Geraghty said, "I can't believe I shot one of our own!"

McGoey had been convicted of three previous pharmacy holdups between 1990 and 2000, court records indicate. He was released from prison in August 2010.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, armed robberies at pharmacies in the U.S. rose 81 percent between 2006 and 2010, from 380 to 686.

In November, David Laffer was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing four people during a pharmacy robbery on Long Island.

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