On three consecutive days in September 1980, a wave of panic gripped Buffalo’s Black community as three Black men were fatally shot with a . 22 caliber weapon. The gunman, Joseph Gerard Christopher, would become known as the . 22 Caliber Killer, believed to be responsible for at least 12 murders and numerous injuries across the region.
Born on July 26, 1955, in Buffalo, New York, Christopher was the only son of Therese and Nicholas Christopher. His father worked as a maintenance man for the City Sanitation Department, while his mother worked as a licensed practical nurse. Friends noted that Christopher learned to shoot at a young age, thanks to his father, an outdoorsman and hunter, and his passion for the outdoors overshadowed all his other interests. Christopher enrolled at Burgard Vocational High School in 1971 to study auto mechanics but dropped out in early 1974.
Former teachers recalled him as a quiet student who did well in shop courses, describing him as brilliant but not book smart. He later worked as a maintenance worker at Canisius College on the midnight shift before being dismissed in March 1979 for sleeping on the job, after which he held several odd jobs and eventually moved back in with his parents. Suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, Christopher sought help in September 1980 after detecting a decline in his mental state. He attempted to admit himself to the Buffalo Psychiatric Center but was turned away because professionals there determined he posed no risk to himself or others, a practice common at the time when such facilities were being downsized.
Officials instead suggested counseling sessions. Two weeks later, his murderous rampage began. Christopher started his killing spree on September 22, 1980, shooting and killing three Black men and a boy within 36 hours using a sawed-off Ruger . 22 caliber semi-automatic rifle hidden inside a brown paper bag.
The first victim was 14-year-old Glenn Dunn, shot on September 22 in front of a grocery store in Buffalo. The following day, Harold Green was fatally shot while eating at a fast-food outlet in Cheektowaga, just seven blocks from where Dunn was killed. That same night, Emmanuel Thomas was shot while crossing the street to his home in Buffalo. Joseph McCoy was fatally shot in Niagara Falls on September 24.
On October 8 and 9, Christopher killed two more people, beating them to death before slicing out their hearts. One victim, a 71-year-old man, was discovered in Buffalo on October 10. That same day, Colin Cole was attacked at a hospital near Buffalo by a white male fitting the profile of the . 22 Caliber Killer.
The attacker allegedly growled, “I hate you,” and attempted to strangle Cole before attempting to kill him further. Cole survived after a nurse intervened, though his neck was severely damaged. After the first round of murders went unsolved, Christopher enlisted in the U. S.
Army and was assigned to Fort Benning in November. He was granted a Christmas vacation and arrived in Manhattan on December 20. On December 22, he carried out two more attacks, killing four more people. In one instance, an intended victim managed to deflect the blade and sustained only minor wounds.
The day’s first homicide occurred at roughly 3:30 p. m. when 19-year-old Luis Rodriguez was fatally stabbed. Tony Davis, 30, died after being stabbed at 6:50 p.
m. Richard Renner, 20, was stabbed to death about four hours later. Carl Ramsey was fatally stabbed while riding the subway at around 11 p. m.
and died before midnight. Christopher then returned to Buffalo, where he killed two more people in January 1981, though all three victims were alive at the time of the attacks. On January 18, 1981, back at Fort Benning, Christopher allegedly attacked a Black soldier with a paring knife. He was imprisoned in the fort’s stockade after the soldier survived the assault.
While incarcerated, he attempted suicide by slashing himself with a razor. During a psychotherapy session, he admitted to a therapist that he had to kill Black people. Police searched Christopher’s residence following this admission and discovered evidence connecting him to three homicides. He was arrested in April and returned to Buffalo for trial on May 8, 1981.
Christopher described his mission during the proceedings, saying, “I had a mission. I was supposed to kill people. I melted down 22 and went around shooting people. I believed that like the TV could hear what I was thinking and I believe that people could imprint things into my head.
” He entered a not guilty plea for the three killings and chose to represent himself rather than accept legal advice from the attorneys his mother had appointed. Christopher was found guilty and sentenced to 60 years in jail. However, the conviction was reversed because the trial judge had prohibited the defense from introducing expert psychiatric testimony regarding Christopher’s capacity to stand trial. After being later determined legally capable of standing trial, he reappeared in court in 1985 on multiple charges, was convicted, and received a life sentence.
Christopher claimed to have killed 13 people. He remained in custody at the Attica Correctional Facility until his death on March 1, 1993, at the age of 37, from a rare form of male breast cancer.