The handgun an Army vet used to kill his wife, her father and a neighbor in a murder spree that shocked a quiet Broward neighborhood was one of a dozen weapons and more than 600 rounds of ammunition that deputies seized a year before the killings, according to Broward Sheriff’s Office incident reports obtained by the Miami Herald.
Nathan Gingles, 43, had more than 40 firearms and firearm-related accessories seized by BSO deputies in February 2024 after a Broward judge granted his wife, Mary Catherine Gingles, a temporary restraining order against him, the reports show. Deputies collected 12 firearms, six suppressors and more than 600 rounds of ammunition on Feb. 9, 2024, the same day as the restraining order.
The firearms, records show, were mostly pistols but also included several shotguns, including a Remington Model 1100, and a Ruger .22 rifle.
The handgun he is accused of using in the Tamarac murder spree was a Black Sig Sauer P320, records show. The gun is a military favorite, according to the Sig Sauer website: “Chosen by all branches of the U.S. military, as well as law enforcement agencies across the country and around the world, the P320 redefines the modern handgun.”
Nathan served in the U.S. Army from February 2011 to January 2019, leaving as a captain, according to Army records. He was deployed to Afghanistan from July 2013 to January 2014. Mary, too, served in the Army from 2016 to 2020, also leaving as a captain. She had no deployments.
Mary Gingles, one of the three people killed on a Sunday morning last month in Tamarac, was concerned about her estranged husband’s arsenal. In her February 2024 divorce petition, she described Nathan as “heavily armed” with “semi-automatic, handguns and more sophisticated firearms” with silencers that she believed he would use to kill her: “as what else would he need silencers for.”
Despite her fears, BSO returned the weapons to Gingles seven months later in September 2024, citing the lifting of the restraining order. As part of their divorce proceedings, Mary and Nathan agreed to a “no-harmful contact order” so they could share custody of their 4-year-old daughter, Seraphine.
Six months after getting back his weapons — early Sunday morning Feb. 16 — Nathan headed to Mary’s home on North Plum Bay Parkway, where he gunned down Mary’s father, David Ponzer, 64, who was drinking coffee on the back patio, investigators say. Nathan then chased Mary, 34, down the street before she ran into the house where her neighbor, 36-year-old Andrew Ferrin, was asleep.
Mary and Ferrin were shot to death inside the home in front of the couple’s 4-year-old daughter, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Nathan then allegedly kidnapped the girl, catapulting an Amber Alert that ended at a Walmart in North Lauderdale, where he was arrested. He’s facing a slew of charges, including murder, kidnapping and child abuse.
Shortly before the murders, Mary had gotten a second domestic violence restraining order against him, in December. In that order, the judge ordered Nathan to surrender his guns and sent a copy of the order to BSO. Deputies, however, didn’t seize Nathan’s weapons.
BSO has not commented on the case, citing an internal and criminal investigation. But Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony suspended or demoted nine BSO officers related to the case.
‘He has already taken steps to prepare to murder me’
For more than a year, Mary detailed her estranged husband’s violence and her fears that he would kill her, according to court records.
“With Nathan’s violent history, his flagrant disregard for rules or laws, and his telling our daughter that he is going to kill me, I am fearful for my life…” Mary said in the December court petition seeking the restraining order against Nathan. “He has already taken steps to prepare to murder me, but is waiting for the opportune time.”
Court records show that a BSO dive team recovered a black Sig Sauer P320 and a suppressor in a body of water less than half a mile away from the slayings. A Sig Sauer and suppressor with the same serial numbers were on the list of weapons deputies seized in February 2024.
Nathan and Mary’s daughter also told investigators she witnessed her father killing her grandfather “with a long black gun.”
Police calls to home
The incident reports obtained by the Herald laid out at least six times since February 2024 that BSO was called to the Plum Bay house where Mary was living with her daughter.
A BSO call log to the home obtained by the Herald indicates BSO deputies went to the house 14 times between Feb. 8, 2024, and Feb. 16, 2025, the date of the triple murder.
There was a “robust amount” of calls to the home, including one in December where BSO deputies talked to Mary more than 30 minutes, Tony said, adding they may have had enough evidence to arrest Nathan at that point. They didn’t.
The BSO incident report from Dec. 29 was heavily redacted, citing the investigations. However, deputies were back at the home the following day after Mary reported that her car keys had been taken.
The reports also named some of the deputies that Tony suspended as having responded to or investigated Mary’s calls. Tony placed at least nine deputies and top officers on paid administrative leave for their roles in the overall investigation, whether on the day of the killings or during previous calls to the house.
“It is clear… we fell short on this one. We could have done more,” Tony said during a news conference days after the murders. “I’m not shy from holding us accountable. I’m not shy about taking an aggressive tone when we fail.”
___
© 2025 Miami Herald
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Source: American Military News
