A Detroit man accused of shooting his neighbor during an argument over a trash can two years ago is now facing a federal firearm charge after the original state case against him fell apart. Counsel Gaynor, 50, was initially charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to do great bodily harm, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and three counts of felony firearm, but those charges were dismissed after the victim did not appear to testify.
According to ClickOnDetroit, the shooting happened on September 9, 2024, when Gaynor and his neighbor got into an argument over a trash can. Per the criminal complaint, Gaynor said both he and his neighbor were armed during the dispute, and he has allegedly admitted shooting the neighbor, claiming he did so in self-defense. He also told investigators he received the gun — described as a small semi-automatic pistol — from a friend, and that he threw it away after the shooting at a location he says he can't recall.
Police searched Gaynor's Detroit home after the shooting but found neither him nor the weapon. When investigators attempted to execute a search warrant at the home on September 12, 2024, they discovered it had already been cleared out, and Gaynor was no longer living there. He wasn't located and arrested at a Detroit home until April 2026 — roughly a year and a half after the shooting.
Why the State Case Collapsed
The original Wayne County charges were dropped after the complaining witness failed to show up in court, a scenario that plays out often enough in Michigan courtrooms to have its own well-worn legal pathway. Under Michigan criminal procedure, judges frequently grant defense motions to dismiss charges without prejudice when a victim or subpoenaed witness doesn't appear, a mechanism that leaves the door open for federal task forces or local prosecutors to evaluate refiling later, according to Prain Law, PLLC.
That dismissal would have been especially consequential for Gaynor had the state case proceeded. Michigan's felony firearm statute, MCL 750.227b, imposes mandatory minimum prison sentences for possessing a firearm during a felony — two consecutive years for a first conviction, five for a second, and ten for a third or subsequent conviction — with those terms required to be served consecutively to and before any underlying felony sentence, as Hoodline has previously reported.
Federal Prosecutors Step In
An ATF special agent accused Gaynor of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon in a criminal complaint unsealed on October 7, two days before the ClickOnDetroit report. He now faces a federal charge of felon in possession of a firearm or ammunition in federal court. ATF special agents and other law enforcement executed a search warrant at Gaynor's home on September 14, though the search turned up nothing.
The shift from state to federal court fits a pattern U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison's office has built out over the past several years. Ison launched the ONE Detroit initiative, a violence-reduction effort, in April 2023. The ATF Detroit Field Division, which operates under the Justice Department's Project Safe Neighborhoods strategy, is the primary federal agency investigating illegal firearm possession and violent gun crime across Michigan.
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Michigan frequently rely on felon-in-possession indictments under that same strategy to pursue cases where the underlying violent crime is otherwise unprovable — for instance, when a victim won't cooperate or a weapon is never recovered, per the Justice Department. Because a 922(g) charge only requires proving prohibited status and possession of a firearm, rather than proving the victim's injuries were caused by that specific weapon, it gives federal prosecutors a path forward even after cases like Gaynor's stall in state court.
A Lengthy Criminal History
Gaynor's record stretches back three decades. He was convicted of assault with intent to rob while armed, armed robbery and felony firearm in 1995, followed by a 2011 conviction for receiving and concealing stolen property valued between $1,000 and $20,000, and a 2015 conviction for felon in possession of a firearm. Authorities say Gaynor knew that, as a convicted felon, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm at all.
Offender records from the Michigan Department of Corrections confirm Gaynor's extensive state correctional history tied to those armed robbery and weapons convictions. His 1995 armed robbery conviction does not automatically bar him from qualifying under a federal process the Department of Justice proposed reviving in 2025 to restore gun rights to certain nonviolent felons — a process that, per Hoodline's prior coverage, presumptively excludes many people with violent convictions but allows case-by-case discretion.
If convicted on the federal felon-in-possession charge, Gaynor faces a statutory maximum of up to 15 years in federal prison. That ceiling was raised from a previous 10-year cap under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022, which amended 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(8) and significantly increased federal sentencing exposure for defendants prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g).
Part of a Broader Federal Push
The FBI Detroit Field Office reported 841 arrests across Michigan in 2025 — a 120% jump from 2024 — with three-quarters of those arrests targeting violent crime and gang-related offenses.
Gaynor's prosecution follows a similar recent case Hoodline has tracked locally: a Detroit man who received a 40-month sentence for a duct-taped gun robbery at an east side store. Together, the cases are examples of federal gun prosecutions in Detroit.
