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Where'd They Get Their Guns?

An Analysis of the Firearms Used in High-Profile Shootings, 1963 to 2001

Date: May 24, 2000

Location: Wendy's Restaurant, Queens, New York

Alleged Shooters: John Taylor and Craig Godineaux

People Killed: Five

People Injured: Two

Firearm(s): Bryco .380 pistol


Circumstances

Taylor and Godineaux planned to rob the Wendy's where Taylor previously worked and to kill the employees to eliminate witnesses. Taylor confronted the manager in the restaurant's basement office and ordered him to summon the rest of the employees. Godineaux followed the employees down to the office where he bound, gagged, and blindfolded them with duct tape. Taylor and Godineaux then allegedly took turns shooting the victims, killing five and wounding two. Godineaux pleaded guilty to multiple murder and robbery charges and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Taylor is scheduled to go to trial in 2001.


How Firearm(s) Acquired

Taylor purchased the gun illegally from a street dealer. The gun was originally purchased from a Bedford Heights, Ohio, gun dealer on March 19, 1999. The gun's owner reported it stolen on April 2, 2000. Bernard Gardier, the owner's roommate, took the gun to Long Island, New York, where he sold it on the street for $250. The gun was sold at least three times on the street, the last time to Taylor. Gardier pleaded guilty to transporting a stolen weapon across state lines in January 2001.

 
  1. Robert D. McFadden, "2 Charged in Wendy's Case as Confession Details Emerge," New York Times, 29 May 2000, sec. B, p. 1.
  2. Sarah Kershaw, "Life Without Parole for Wendy's Killer," New York Times, 22 February 2001, sec. B, p. 3.
  3. Lou Grieco, "Burglary on Wilmington Pike Puts 100 Guns in Circulation," Dayton Daily News, 11 December 2000, sec. A, p. 6.
  4. Mike Claffy and Maki Becker, "Gun Provider Pleads Guilty, Faces Prison," New York Daily News, 18 January 2001, p. 4.

 

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 All contents � 2001 Violence Policy Center

 


The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America, conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease firearm-related death and injury.