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Burglar Shot Dead by NYPD Spent 18 Years in Prison for Robbery: Records

 Orville Edwards, left, was fatally shot by police in Gravesend, NYPD officials said.
Orville Edwards, left, was fatally shot by police in Gravesend, NYPD officials said.
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New York State Department of Corrections and DNAinfo/Kathleen Culliton

GRAVESEND — A burglar who was fatally shot by police in Gravesend Monday night while fleeing a crime scene spent 18 years behind bars for robberies dating back to the 1990s, records show.

Orville Edwards, 39, and another man disguised themselves as construction workers before breaking into an apartment with seven family members and an infant inside at 2271 78th St. Monday evening, witnesses and officials said. 

Someone called 911 during the break-in and responding officers fatally shot Edwards after he jumped a fence onto Stillwell Avenue and pointed his revolver at a uniformed sergeant, Chief of Department James O'Neill said Monday night. 

Rene Attias, 36, was at home with her 7-year-old daughter when she heard gunfire outside her window. 

 Orville Edwards, 39, was fatally shot by police after robbing a home in 2271 78th St. Monday evening, according to the NYPD.
Orville Edwards, 39, was fatally shot by police after robbing a home in 2271 78th St. Monday evening, according to the NYPD.
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DNAinfo/Chris Sommerfeldt

"I heard two shots and I knew it wasn't fireworks," Attias said. "I opened the window and I heard somebody scream and one of the officers was running down Stillwell Avenue. At that time I had already seen [Edwards] on the ground bleeding." 

Attias then saw Emergency Service Unit officers rush into the burglarized building after the shooting. 

Neighbor Shal Jin, 48, said she saw four officers perform CPR on Edwards, who later died at Coney Island Hospital. 

Records show that Edwards had been released on parole in August 2014 after being convicted of six robberies in Brooklyn in January and March of 1995. 

Jin also said she saw a second man wearing a construction vest walking down 78th Street just before the shooting. 

"Once he heard the gunshots he ran down Quentin Road," she said in Chinese through an interpreter. "No one noticed that guy run." 

The NYPD described the second suspect as a heavy-set man in his 30s who was dressed in construction gear. Police were still looking for him as of 3:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Attias described the neighborhood as "quiet" and safe. 

"I had never before seen an actual shooting or somebody actually dead on the floor," the mother said. "It was very disturbing." 

It was not clear if Edwards fired his weapon, and the shooting is under investigation by the NYPD.