On a September evening in 1980, 14-year-old Glenn Dunn, a Black male, was fatally shot outside a supermarket on Genesee Street in Buffalo, New York. His death on September 22nd marked the violent beginning of a string of attacks that would terrorize the city and extend to Niagara Falls and even New York City. Dunn was in a vehicle when the gunfire erupted, and he was declared dead at the scene.
This seemingly random act of violence was the first carried out by a man who would come to be known as the '.22 Caliber Killer.'
In the 36 hours that followed Glenn Dunn's murder, three other Black men were also shot and killed. The killings sparked fear and racial tensions throughout the community. Investigators connected the murders through the. 22-caliber shell casings left at the scenes, realizing a serial killer was at large. Witnesses to the initial shooting described the assailant as a young white man. The killer's motives appeared to be purely racial, as the victims were chosen at random, united only by their race.
The perpetrator, Joseph Christopher, an Army private, continued his racially motivated attacks, later stabbing several Black men in Manhattan in December of that year, earning him the moniker the 'Midtown Slasher.' His spree of violence ultimately led to his arrest in January 1981 at Fort Benning, Georgia, after he attacked a fellow soldier. A search of his belongings linked him to the Buffalo shootings.
Joseph Christopher was eventually convicted for the murders of Glenn Dunn, Harold Green, and Emmanuel Thomas. His legal proceedings were complex, involving questions of his mental competency to stand trial. After an initial conviction was overturned, he was retried and found guilty. While incarcerated, Christopher claimed to have committed a total of 13 killings. He died in prison from a rare form of breast cancer on March 1, 1993.
