A 40-year-old man accused of shooting an auto body shop employee in Williamsburg Tuesday admitted to police he woke up that morning with the intent to shoot the man, court documents say.
Michael Sean Taylor, 40, of Hampton, entered Ebby’s Auto Painting and Collision Repair around 9 a.m. Tuesday and allegedly shot Joseph St. Clair, a painter at the shop, according to the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office.
A criminal complaint filed in the York-Poquoson General District Court says Taylor came up to an employee outside the front of Ebby’s and demanded to see “Joey the painter,” discharging a handgun downward into a pillar at the front entrance of the business.
Taylor allegedly threatened the male employee, saying he would kill him if he didn’t take him to see the painter, documents state. He followed the employee into the building where they encountered the owner of Ebby’s.
Taylor “forced” both men to lead him into the back garage of the shop, where he fired another shot into a vehicle and demanded to see St. Clair.
The three men went into another bay where St. Clair was working on a vehicle, the complaint states. Taylor then fired a round into St. Clair’s abdomen, causing him to fall to the floor.
Taylor shot St. Clair several more times when he was on the ground, documents state.
There were about nine employees in the shop at the time of the shooting, police said Tuesday. All employees, including St. Clair, were able to leave the shop.
Following the shooting, Taylor barricaded himself inside the building, negotiating with police. When the 40-year-old started spray painting the front windows of the shop black, an emergency response team deployed tear gas and tased Taylor, disarming him.
In interviews with investigators following his arrest, Taylor “admitted to shooting Joseph St. Clair and firing his handgun inside the body shop,” documents state.
“The accused admitted to getting up the morning of 7/25/2017, retrieving two of his handguns and a shotgun, and going to Ebby’s with the intention of shooting Joseph St. Clair,” the complaint states. “During the interview, the accused stated that he ‘…hopes that mother f—-r dies.’”
The victim was in surgery while Taylor was barricaded inside the business, but was in stable condition by 6 p.m. Tuesday, police said.
Court records show Taylor is charged with attempted second degree murder, shoot into an occupied building, four counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, two counts of abduction by force or intimidation and malicious wounding.
Taylor was arraigned Wednesday morning in the York-Poquoson General District court. He is scheduled to appear again Oct. 17 at 2 p.m.
