Police say the victim was shot in the back of the head and moved before officers arrived.
GULFPORT, Fla. — Blood outside a garage, a body found inside it and a gunshot wound to the back of the head led police to reject a Gulfport man’s accidental shooting account, investigators said.
Elisha Christopher Landry, 28, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Shaun Allen Hennigh, 34, after police said the crime scene at their Tangerine Avenue South home appeared to have been altered. Landry told police the two men had been “play-fighting” when a 9 mm handgun fired. Detectives said the blood evidence, medical examiner’s findings and Landry’s own statements told a different story.
The physical evidence began outside the garage, according to the arrest affidavit. Investigators found blood spatters on an outdoor bench and the driveway. They also found a partly dried pool of blood beneath a package delivery storage box. Inside the garage were apparent blood smears that detectives said were consistent with a body being dragged from outside to inside. Officers also saw dried blood footprints around the scene. Hennigh was found on the garage floor after Landry called 911 at 5:04 a.m. April 17. Police said he was already cold to the touch and rigor mortis had started. The garage door was closed when officers arrived, adding to investigators’ questions about where the shooting happened and what changed before the call.
Landry’s clothing became another point of focus. He told police that he held Hennigh for 15 to 30 minutes after the gun fired, but forensic technicians saw only a minimal amount of blood on his jeans. Police said that did not fit the heavy blood loss from the fatal head wound. Landry later admitted he put blue jeans over the shorts he had worn during the shooting before officers arrived. Investigators viewed that detail alongside the blood smears and the outdoor blood pool. The affidavit does not describe a single piece of evidence as standing alone. Instead, police presented a pattern that they said showed Hennigh was shot outside or near the driveway, moved into the garage and left there for hours before the emergency call.
The autopsy added a medical finding that police said undercut any idea that Hennigh shot himself. The Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide from a single intermediate-range gunshot wound to the back of the head. The bullet entered the rear portion of the skull and moved upward, according to the affidavit. When Landry first spoke to the 911 dispatcher, he said he was not sure whether Hennigh had shot himself. Later, when officers questioned him, he offered a different explanation tied to an accidental discharge during a physical struggle. Police said the wound location and trajectory were not consistent with the early uncertainty about suicide and did not support the version of events Landry gave.
Landry’s statements shifted from the start, investigators said. He first told police Hennigh came home irate and that the two men went down to the garage to smoke a cigarette. He then said the fatal shot happened while they were “play-fighting” near the driveway. In that account, Hennigh grabbed the handgun from Landry’s waistband holster while they were acting silly. When an officer asked whether Hennigh had held the gun to his head, Landry said, “No dude! We were just twisting around.” Police said he then contradicted himself by saying Hennigh did not grab the gun from the holster. During a later post-Miranda interview at the police station, Landry shook his head when asked how the weapon fired and said, “I can’t tell you.”
Time also worked against Landry’s account, police said. Neighbors reported hearing one gunshot and a car alarm at 12:32 a.m., but Landry did not call 911 until more than four hours later. In the call, he told the dispatcher that his best friend was shot in the garage and that he had been with the body for about 30 minutes. When officers reached the home in the 5100 block of Tangerine Avenue South, Landry was in the road and kept saying Hennigh was “in the back.” Police said Landry’s mother, a licensed travel nurse with more than a decade of medical experience, was inside the home during the hours before the 911 call. Investigators said Landry did not wake her or ask her to help Hennigh.
Witness accounts gave police a possible reason the men were arguing before the shot. Landry’s girlfriend told detectives that the dispute began upstairs after Landry became angry because Hennigh was vaping inside the house. Hennigh went downstairs toward the garage, she said, and Landry said he was going to check on him. Police said Landry had the 9 mm handgun in his waistband at that time. Detectives also found that the roommates had argued before about money. Text messages on Hennigh’s phone showed Landry kicked him out in January because he was not consistent with his share of the bills. Police said Hennigh couch surfed until he was allowed to return to the home.
Gulfport police did not make an arrest the morning Hennigh was found. Detectives continued gathering evidence and statements for the next month. The department said it worked with the State Attorney’s Office for the Sixth Judicial Circuit and the Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office before obtaining an arrest warrant charging Landry with second-degree murder. On May 18, Gulfport detectives and the United States Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Landry at his residence without incident. He was transported to the Pinellas County Jail. Police thanked the task force for helping take him into custody. Public reports did not identify a next court date in the immediate aftermath of the arrest.
The case now moves from the driveway and garage evidence into court, where prosecutors must prove the murder charge and the defense can challenge the police account. Investigators have described several unresolved points, including the full chain of events between the upstairs argument and the 911 call. They have also not publicly released every piece of forensic testing tied to the gun or clothing. What police have said is that the scene did not look like the aftermath of a brief accidental struggle. They cited the delayed call, the body’s condition, the blood outside, the apparent drag marks, the added clothing and the wound to the back of the head.
Currently, Landry is being held in the Pinellas County Jail without bond as of June 17. The next public step was expected through court filings or a scheduled hearing in the second-degree murder case.
Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.