A Queens man celebrating his birthday ended the party by shooting and killing his own father, police said Wednesday.
Langley Bruce, 55, joined a celebration at his son Anthony Guyton’s house Tuesday night, but began arguing with the birthday boy. They took it outside. As his dad got into his car to leave at about 10:30 p.m., his 37-year-old son whipped out a semi-automatic Hi-Point 9mm gun and pumped a bullet into his chest.
“He and Anthony got into some talking. There was some argument,” Bruce’s stepfather, Gladstone McGowan told the Post Wednesday. “While (Bruce) is in the car about to go away, his son came. I believe the son had some feeling against him from long ago.”
Patrol officers who happened to be a block away heard the shot at the intersection of 143rd St. and 119th Ave in South Jamaica. They then saw Guyton hovering over his old man’s Chevy Impala while putting another bullet into the chamber of his gun.
On cops orders, he promptly dropped the weapon and raised his arms. He also admitted to the shooting, law enforcement sources said.
Meanwhile, police pulled the father from the driver’s seat. They placed him on the ground and performed CPR, but the single shot to his chest penetrated his heart. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Jamaica Hospital.
Exactly why Guyton killed his dad remains unclear. He’d previously been arrested eight times for charges including criminal use of a firearm after he fired three shots into another vehicle in 2004. But police said that while the father and son had been feuding in recent times, it never resulted in any arrest or calls to the house.
Guyton lived a block from the shooting. On Wednesday afternoon, glass from the shattered window still littered the intersection. Nearby in his townhouse apartment, Guyton’s mother, sister and brother refused to comment.
Bruce, a laborer, lived with his wife, Alma, in St. Albans Queens and also has a 17 year old son Darrell.
At the home, Bruce’s stepdad said the family is heartbroken.
“”Langley is a piece of me,” McGowan said, patting his heart.
“She’s in shock,” McGowan added of Bruce ‘s wife. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this.”
Guyton, who is charged with second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, faces up to 25 years to life in prison. He is due to be arraigned later Wednesday in Queens criminal court.
“The defendant is accused of patricide, taking the life of his own father,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. “The alleged actions of the defendant are totally incomprehensible.”