# Victims were riddled with bullets



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

_*Strip club reopens, but memory of rampage too raw for some *_
*By BRIAN FRAGA, Standard-Times staff writer 
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*PETER PEREIRA/The Standard-TimesTwo women lay flowers at a shrine in front of the Foxy Lady devoted to the two employees killed in Tuesday's rampage at the Popes Island club, which reopened yesterday. The results of autopsies revealed the victims were shot multiple times, and the gunman shot himself in the right temple. *

NEW BEDFORD - The Foxy Lady's floor manager, Robert Carreiro, was shot seven times in Tuesday morning's rampage, his autopsy revealed. 
Tory Marandos, 29, the strip club's general manager, was shot five times. The gunman, Scott C. Medeiros, 35, of East Freetown, shot himself through the right temple. 
Investigators learned the details of the autopsies yesterday, the same day the Foxy Lady reopened for business. 
Bristol County Assistant District Attorney Raymond P. Veary Jr. said he was given the details of the autopsies by two state troopers who attended them. 
Mr. Medeiros, who entered the club wearing body armor and armed with an M-16-style assault rifle, died from a single gunshot that entered his right temple and went through his skull, investigators said. 
Mr. Veary would not elaborate on the position of the wounds suffered by the two others. The autopsies were performed by Dr. Kimberly Springer of the Chief Medical Examiner's Office, Mr. Veary said. 
Meanwhile, the Foxy Lady's doors opened early yesterday afternoon, four days after Mr. Medeiros' rampage in which three others, including two police officers, were wounded. 
The strip club's staff worked feverishly for the past three days to clean the place of any traces of Tuesday's tragedy. Broken glass, debris and blood stains were wiped clean by the crew. Bullet holes were temporarily covered over with mirrors, a source told The Standard-Times. 
Still intact was the shrine outside the club's front door honoring the memories of Mr. Carreiro and Mr. Marandos. Both men were shot and killed after Mr. Medeiros entered the club at 2 a.m. spraying bullets and looking for the pair. 
Mr. Medeiros, hours earlier, had left the club vowing revenge after getting into an argument with Mr. Carreiro, 32. After he shot up the men, he stepped outside and engaged police in a firefight. Mr. Medeiros wounded New Bedford Police Officers Joshua Fernandes and Steven Wadman. After he fired on police, he stormed back into the club and, ultimately, turned the gun on himself. 
Reopening the Foxy Lady was not an easy decision, but one made on the recommendation of a bereavement counselor, said club owner Tom Tsoumas. 
"It's very therapeutic for young people to get back to work," Mr. Tsoumas said. "I think the timing was appropriate. It was just my call, but I could be wrong about that." 
Mr. Tsoumas said club management had a group meeting Thursday night with 350 employees at the Providence Foxy Lady. He described the mood as "hysterical" at the beginning, and said support groups and bereavement counseling are being made available to employees. 
However, memories of Tuesday's shootout are still too fresh for some employees to return to work. 
"Many of them are not coming back, at least not right now," Mr. Tsoumas said. "They just can't deal with it." 
On Thursday, police released the 911 tapes from the shooting, which captured the sounds and screams of terrified patrons and women scrambling for their lives amid automatic gunfire. Mr. Marandos was heard on the tapes, mistakenly believing the gunman had left the club in a black car with the lights out before his phone cuts out. 
Mr. Medeiros also spoke with a 911 dispatcher, at one point pausing to spray the club with bullets before telling the dispatcher "it's over" and shooting himself. 
Tuesday's tragic turn of events killed two popular club employees, both known for their affable personalities. 
"They were examples of how far the human spirit can bring you in order to have a very productive life," Mr. Tsoumas said. "God never put two better people on the Earth than Bobby and Tory." 
Mr. Marandos, Mr. Tsoumas' nephew, grew up in Nashua, N.H., where he served as an altar boy in the Greek Orthodox Church for 10 years. He was president of his high school class and captain of the basketball team. 
Mr. Carreiro worked at the Foxy Lady for five years, as a bouncer and floor manager. He played soccer for New Bedford High School and was close to attaining a black belt in karate. 
Mr. Carreiro was also a devoted father of the young daughter he had with Foxy Lady bartender Jaime Tavares. The couple split up, and Ms. Tavares briefly dated Mr. Medeiros, who was a longtime friend of Mr. Carreiro. 
Club staff said Mr. Medeiros and Mr. Carreiro were in a fight two weeks ago, with Mr. Medeiros receiving the worst of it. Around the same time, Mr. Carreiro turned Mr. Medeiros away from the Foxy Lady, telling him Ms. Tavares felt threatened by him. 
In a search of Mr. Medeiros' Freetown home, police found a note the gunman left telling his parents he was sorry and asking them to take care of his ex-girlfriend. 
The love triangle-turned-deadly has left many local relatives and friends devastated. Mr. Tsoumas said he copes by concentrating on his job. 
"This is horrendous," he said. "I could never have imagined something like this ever happening. But it's happened, and I deal with it by working as much as I can to get my mind off it. If my mind is idle, it'll drift, and it makes me sad."

Contact Brian Fraga 
at [email protected]


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