UWS Shooting Suspect Knew One Of His Victims From Prison

Photograph of police outside an Upper West Side building where four people were found dead by Stephen Chernin/AP

Yesterday, a usually quiet Upper West Side street was rocked by violence when a man allegedly shot and killed three members of a family—a father, his son and a grandfather— and injured another before falling to his death from an Amsterdam Avenue apartment between 82nd and 83rd Streets. And it's believed that shooting suspect Herbert Quinones knew the father from their times in state prison.

The NY Times reports, "If there were any doubt that Hector Quinones was intent on causing grievous harm Thursday, it would have been dispelled by one look at his hands — covered by two sets of gloves, one rubber and one leather... By the time he was through, the police said, he would kill three members of a family: Carlos Rodriguez Sr., 52; his son Carlos Jr., 24; and Fernando Gonzales, 87, who was the elder Mr. Rodriguez’s father-in-law." A gun and 12-inch knife were retrieved from the scene; it's unclear if Gonzales was shot or stabbed (or both) to death.

Carlos Rodriguez Sr.'s wife Gisela Rodriguez returned the apartment with daughter Leyanis, around 1:45 p.m., and Quinones opened the door. Gisela Rodriguez was grazed by a bullet but managed to escape the apartment; the Post says, "He then went after Gisela's daughter, who scrambled for safety and ran to a nearby bedroom. The killer was inches away from grabbing her but tripped over his low-slung pants, sources said. The horrified woman managed to slam and lock the door just in time, only to find the bloodied bodies of her brother and dad inside."

Leyanis Rodriguez then escaped through a window. According to the Daily News, "Once outside the apartment, she ran to the roof. Her screams for help drew construction workers on the roof to her aid, a source said. 'He shot them execution style,' the daughter later told relatives in the emergency room of St. Luke's Hospital, where her mother was in stable condition. 'I suffered three deaths in one minute,' she said."

With cops arriving at the scene, Quinones tried to escape by leaving through the fire escape, but fell to his death (the Post: "again, his low-slung pants fell to his ankles, tripping him and sending him falling three stories to his death") behind the building. Apparently Quinones knew Rodriguez Sr. from prison stints in the 1990s. The News says "Rodriguez Sr. [had] a criminal rap sheet that included arrests for weapons" while describing Quinones as "a career criminal," who "was released from prison Aug. 11 after doing time for assault and weapons charges" and who had managed to plea bargain down a murder charge to manslaughter in 2002.

According to the TImes, "Detectives also found a significant amount of heroin in a box and a small amount of cocaine in the apartment, said [Police spokesman Paul] Browne, who said detectives were investigating the possibility that the killings were drug-related or possibly part of a robbery." The Post reports, "The elder Rodriguez was arrested last month for carrying a knife, and [Police Commissioner] Kelly said there had been a report that the younger Rodriguez had been dealing drugs on the street, although he was never arrested."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on December 18, 2009 10:45 AM

Comments [rss]

Apocalypse

this comment goes out to inoyourider... You shouldnt believe everything in the media... i know this family for over 20 yrs and they would have given up anything to see someone happy... if i wasnt a dedicated federal officer, i would really tell you what i feel and do about what you said about them....

inoyourider

And piss poor grammar from a 'federal officer'.

If you really are a fed you're a perfect example of what is wrong with this country- LOW STANDARDS.

inoyourider

I'm also curious as to why and how a 'dedicated federal officer' could know this family for years and never bust them?

Were they informants or were they paying you off?

Maybe they got shot because someone found out they were snitches...which most likely would have happened because their federal contacts were sloppy.

inoyourider

I'll believe the media long before I believe someone on a message board claiming to have inside knowledge.

If they wanted to see people happy they shouldn't have been peddling garbage.

I don't care how you or anyone felt about them.

Heroin dealers= trash. Hitler's neighbors may have loved him too, but I don't give a shit.

You should be ashamed to call yourself a 'dedicated federal officer' and be sticking up for heroin dealer scum like these.

inoyourider

oh this story is wonderful!!!!!

What a beautiful Christmas present!!!

A den of drug dealers is put to death, without any cost to the public. The killer also dies, because he was wearing the low pants that scumbags favor.

Would be the perfect story if the women who survived were thrown in prison for drug dealing and the kida were given to a foster family so they might have a chance of not growing up to be scumbags.

theLtrain

Look how edgy you are!

I wonder, do all of these insane people who think drug dealers deserve to be murdered along with their families not smoke weed, or drink, or do anything?

Perhaps you should tell the next bartender you see that he deserves a slow painful death because he provides you with an intoxicant.

Get real idiot.

inoyourider

You're a moron. Nuff said.

Good riddance to these pieces of shit.

Snoopy

Heroin is hardly in the same class as a six pack of Budweiser. IDIOT!

r1b2

Learning that a scumbag died because he wore his pants low like the moron he was makes me SO happy. That's the highlight of the news day for me.

rcltrh

This killer was probably the father's bi*ch in prison and he was after revenge.

Think2wice

The moment you read "heroin...cocaine in the apartment", you've already come up with the scene of what went down and cast it with the stars of Law & Order.

jpeditor

I got $10 says little dickie wolf will twist the story - the villains will be made out to be republicans / religious christians / jews / talk radio listeners.

Mookie Wilson

It's a win-win-win-win situation.

dr zippy

Were the Coen brothers filming a scene for a Miller's Crossing sequel?

JenChungsBaby

Two assholes dead in one week because of gangsta' bullshit. First the guy in Times Square who held his machine gun sideways, then this moron with the pants around his knees. Dumbfucks.

Boogie Down

First a gun jam from shooting sideways, and now a falling death due to low-hanging pants. Thanks, mainstream hip hop culture, for facilitating natural selection.

Snoopy

I guess the concept of being reformed in prison doesn't seem to work too well.

Murderers should not be allowed to walk the streets PERIOD. Well maybe after they turn 85, but not before then

tolu1973

I think a fitting sentence to a crime like this is to incarcerate this dude's entire family. As many generations as possible. Lock 'em up and throw away the key.

tolu1973

seriously, if someone killed my brother, father and grandfather, I would find his extended family and murder all of them. Eye for a fucking eye.