Police have linked a bloody handgun found inside a trashcan with last week's Upper West Side triple homicide — but they haven't been able to conclude how it got there. Investigators revealed yesterday that they found a .380-caliber Beretta between garbage bags about 20-feet from the place where Hector Quinones fell to his death after shooting Carlos Rodriguez Sr., Carlos Rodriguez Jr. and stabbing 87-year-old Fernando Gonzales in a dispute over drugs.
The Times reports that the Beretta was found in a recycling bin and "it seemed to have been purposely hidden between two bags of trash." Tests have linked the weapon to the shell casings found at the scene, but it's unclear if someone moved the gun after Quinones fell from the fire escape (police believe he tripped on his baggy pants) in an attempt to disrupt the investigation, or because they wanted to retrieve it later. Investigators — who initially thought Quinones used a .380-caliber Hi-Point pistol that was found in the apartment — still believe that the 52-year-old acted alone.
