Good Guy with a Gun #164: Greenfield, MO
Caught shoplifting? Maybe don't run. Running? Maybe don't invade a home. Invading a home? Maybe don't get into a gunfight. And maybe you won't end up dead. | Original incident: April 12, 2024
These posts are based on our Good Guy with a Gun calendar. Today’s post is somewhat updated from the calendar version.
Dude: Take the L.
Christopher Cendroski was a violent man. Just last week, on April 6, 2026, he became the poster boy for domestic abuse in an article from The Guardian.
A few months into their relationship, which began in 2011, Cendroski started beating Martin, and in May 2012, he nearly choked her to death, she said. Police arrested Cendroski and helped both Martin and her children get to a shelter.
The same article contains a notable postscript: “Her abuser, Cendroski, was shot and killed in 2024 while invading a home.” This is that story.
It starts with… loitering. No, really. Cendroski was seen loitering around the Beer Barn in Greenfield, Missouri before going over to the Price Cutters. Not a big deal.
Except then he got caught shoplifting. The store manager confronted him, and he ran.
Still not that big of a deal, but he ran across the street and into the back door of a private residence.
A relative1 of the homeowner was there, armed, and they exchanged gunfire. The relative was hurt and went to the hospital, but Cendroski was killed.
Shoplifting isn’t punishable by death: He should have stopped while he was behind.
But then, there’s a lot of stuff he should have stopped.
Sources
The Greenfield PD published a report on Facebook.
KY3 (“the place to be!”) published a terse report online and gave it 20 seconds of airtime (though it sounds like that’s just the update).
And here’s that domestic abuse article from the Guardian.
The police Facebook post differs from the news report.
When I read these stories, I have to remind myself that the vast majority of people I have known over my entire 73 years are not this stupid . . .