On June 19, 2011, four people were killed at Haven Drugs, a pharmacy in Medford, New York, during a robbery. The perpetrator, David Laffer, committed the shooting after he had lost his job, and was, with his wife, addicted to opioids. Laffer was sentenced to life without parole, and his wife was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
| 2011 Medford shooting | |
|---|---|
  Haven Drugs Haven Drugs (Long Island)  Haven Drugs Haven Drugs (New York) | |
| Location | Haven Drugs, Medford, New York, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°48′04″N 73°00′13″W / 40.8011°N 73.0037°W |
| Date | June 19, 2011 |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Weapon | .45 caliber handgun |
| Deaths | 4 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Perpetrator | David Laffer |
| Motive | Drug addiction, robbery |
A doctor who had previously sold Laffer drugs, and was discovered in the aftermath to have been running a pill mill that led to the overdose deaths of several people, was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.[1]
Background
editLaffer and his wife both had an opioid addiction.[2] Laffer and his wife were caught on security camera visiting an illegal pharmacy, later described as a "pill mill", the week before the shootings.[2][1] The man operating the clinic, Stan Xuhui Li, had previously sold him drugs.[3][4][5]
Shooting
editAfter striking a conversation in the pharmacy with employers Raymond Ferguson and Jennifer Mejia, David Laffer then pulled out his firearm, and shot and killed both of them.[6] He then murdered two customers, Bryon Sheffield and Jamie Taccetta.[7][8] A .45 caliber handgun was used in the shooting.[9]
He then stole a bag's worth of painkillers, wiped the counter, and fled. He stole over 11,000 hydrocodone pills.[2][10] His wife was outside in a getaway car.[2]
He fired 7 shots during the shooting, 3 hit the pharmacist, 2 hit his assistant, and each customer was shot one time each.[11]
Aftermath
editLaffer was arrested on June 22.[12] The next day, he was booked in court, and pled not guilty.[13][14][15] According to Laffer, the motivation for the robbery/murders was because he had lost his job and his wife needed painkillers.[16]
On November 10, Laffer was sentenced to life without parole.[17][18] His wife was sentenced to 25 years on robbery charges, the maximum sentence allowed.[16] During the trial, the judge described him as someone with "unnatural viciousness", and promised that he would have Laffer placed in solitary confinement for the rest of his life: corrections officials pointed out only they had the ability to decide this.[10] Dr. Li, the operator of the illegal pharmacy, was later sentenced to up to 20 years in prison in December 2014, for selling illegal prescriptions to Laffer and manslaughter, as two of his patients had overdosed.[2][3][19]
References
edit- ^ a b Bismuth, Charlotte (January 19, 2021). "Soft Targets". Bad Medicine: Catching New York's Deadliest Pill Pusher. Atria/One Signal Publishers. ISBN 9781982116422.
- ^ a b c d e "Only on PIX11: Pharmacy killer and wife shown at Queens 'pill mill' 8 days before murders". PIX11. May 28, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ a b McKinley, James C. Jr. (December 20, 2014). "Pain Clinic Doctor Is Sentenced in Overdose Deaths of 2 Patients". The New York Times. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ Grace, Melissa (November 21, 2011). "Doc who prescribed pain meds to killer David Laffer accused of running drug mill". New York Daily News. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ Rosenblum, Tara (May 18, 2023). "Convicted murderer David Laffer wishes he could take back 5 minutes of Medford massacre". News 12. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ "Medford Pharmacy Massacre Suspect David Laffer Indicted on Additional Charges". CBS News. June 30, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ Harris, Elizabeth A. (June 20, 2011). "Robber Kills 4 in L.I. Pharmacy; One Victim is a 17-Year-Old Girl". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ "4 Killed in Medford Pharmacy Shooting". CBS News. June 19, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ "Medford pharmacy shooting: Six years later". Newsday. June 16, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2024.
- ^ a b Jeffreys, Derek S. (2013). "Should We Banish the Wicked? The Ethics of Solitary Confinement". Spirituality in Dark Places: The Ethics of Solitary Confinement. Content and Context in Theological Ethics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 104-105. ISBN 978-1-137-30861-0.
- ^ Mian, Rashed; Bolger, Timothy (June 30, 2011). "Laffer Pleads Not Guilty to Upgraded Murder Charges". www.longislandpress.com. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
- ^ "Arrests made in Long Island pharmacy killings". NBC News. June 22, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Eltman, Frank (June 23, 2011). "NY pharmacy shooting suspect pleads not guilty". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ ""No Remorse" from Accused Pharmacy Shooter: Police". NBC News. June 23, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Vilensky, Mike (June 23, 2011). "Suspect in Long Island Drugstore Murders Pleads Not Guilty". Intelligencer. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ a b "David Laffer, wife sentenced in Medford pharmacy massacre". ABC13 Houston. November 10, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ "David Laffer Gets Life Without Parole, Wife Gets 25 Years in Medford Pharmacy Massacre". CBS News. November 10, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Stelloh, Tim (November 11, 2011). "Mercy Not Sought or Given, Killer of Four is Sentenced". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
- ^ Riley, John (December 12, 2014). "Daughter of Medford massacre victim wants the max for convicted pain pill doctor". Newsday. Retrieved March 4, 2024.