A fatal shooting followed an argument between roommates inside a Tangerine Avenue South home, say police.

GULFPORT, Fla. — A Florida man was charged with second-degree murder after police said his best friend was shot in the back of the head and a 911 call came more than four hours after neighbors heard a gunshot.

Elisha Christopher Landry, 28, was arrested May 18 in the April 17 death of Shaun Allen Hennigh, 34, at a home in the 5100 block of Tangerine Avenue South. Police said the case turned on a gap between the reported sound of gunfire and Landry’s call for help, along with signs that the scene had been changed before officers arrived. Landry is being held at the Pinellas County Jail without bond.

The case began at 5:04 a.m. April 17, when Landry called 911 and told a dispatcher that his best friend had been shot in the garage. When asked whether Hennigh had shot himself, Landry said he was not sure, according to an arrest affidavit. He also said he had been sitting with Hennigh for about 30 minutes. Neighbors later told investigators they heard a single gunshot and a car alarm at 12:32 a.m., placing the possible shooting about four and a half hours before the emergency call. When officers arrived, they found Landry in the roadway. He kept saying his friend was “in the back,” police said. Officers then found Hennigh on the garage floor, cold to the touch, with rigor mortis beginning to set in.

Investigators said the physical scene did not match Landry’s first timeline. Police noted dried blood footprints around the garage and other blood evidence outside the home, including spatters on an outdoor bench and driveway. A pool of partly dried blood was found under a package delivery storage box outside, according to the affidavit. Detectives also reported apparent blood smears that they said were consistent with a body being dragged from outside into the garage. The garage door was closed when officers arrived. Police said Landry claimed he held Hennigh after the shooting, but technicians found only a small amount of blood on Landry’s jeans. He later admitted he had pulled blue jeans over the shorts he had been wearing before police got there.

Landry gave police several explanations for what happened, according to the affidavit. He first said Hennigh came home upset and that the two men went to the garage to smoke a cigarette. As questioning continued, police said, Landry described the shooting as an accident during “play-fighting” near the driveway. He said Hennigh grabbed a 9 mm handgun from a waistband holster while the two were acting silly. When an officer asked whether Hennigh had held the gun to his own head, Landry said, “No dude! We were just twisting around.” Moments later, police said, he changed his account and said Hennigh had not grabbed the gun from the holster. During a later interview after a Miranda warning, Landry shook his head when asked how the gun fired and said, “I can’t tell you.”

The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. The affidavit said the shot entered the posterior part of Hennigh’s skull and traveled upward. Police said that finding undercut any claim that Hennigh shot himself. Investigators also said Landry’s mother, a licensed travel nurse with more than 10 years of medical experience, was inside the house during the hours between the gunshot reported by neighbors and the 911 call. Police said Landry did not wake her or ask her to provide medical help. Detectives also interviewed residents and witnesses as they worked to determine what took place before the call.

Police said the argument that preceded the shooting may have started upstairs. Landry’s girlfriend told detectives that Landry became angry after finding Hennigh vaping inside the house. The two men argued, she said, and Hennigh went downstairs toward the garage. Landry told her he was going downstairs to check on Hennigh, according to the affidavit. Police said Landry had the 9 mm handgun in his waistband at the time. Investigators also found text messages that showed tension between the roommates over money. In January, Landry had kicked Hennigh out of the home because Hennigh was not consistent in paying his part of the bills, police said. Hennigh then had to couch surf until he was allowed to return.

Gulfport police continued the investigation for about a month before announcing an arrest. The department said detectives worked with the State Attorney’s Office for the Sixth Judicial Circuit and the Pinellas County Medical Examiner’s Office to obtain a warrant charging Landry with second-degree murder under Florida law. On the morning of May 18, Gulfport detectives and the United States Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested Landry at his residence without incident. Police said he was taken to the Pinellas County Jail for processing. The charge means prosecutors allege an unlawful killing that was not premeditated murder. Court records available in the immediate aftermath did not list a next hearing date.

The shooting left a quiet residential stretch of Tangerine Avenue South at the center of a homicide case built partly on what neighbors heard before dawn. Officers were called not to a reported argument or active shooting, but to a death investigation after Landry’s call. The first details he gave dispatchers placed Hennigh in the garage and left open the question of suicide. The later evidence, police said, showed a different picture: a gunshot hours earlier, a body that appeared to have been moved, and a changing account from the man who called 911. Police have not said publicly whether anyone else faces charges in the case.

For now, Landry remains jailed without bond as of June 17 while the second-degree murder case moved through Pinellas County courts. Officials had not announced a trial date or released a public schedule for the next major hearing.

Author note: Last updated June 17, 2026.