Tweed
NES Member
Stuff like this always irks me when a someone gets quoted that only the police are trained enough to handle firearms.
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Gun blasts, a woman nearly hit, and questions
By Jack Minch, [email protected]
Article Last Updated: 08/23/2007 11:44:02 AM EDT
DUNSTABLE -- She was sitting in a lounge chair in the living room of her Oak Street home, watching television, when the round ripped through a screen on an open bathroom window, rattling off walls and doors and hitting about 4 feet over her head, showering her with pieces of plasterboard as she ducked in fear.
The shotgun blast, fired shortly before 10 p.m. on Aug. 4, left a dent in the front door, where the shell ricocheted before striking a glass pane on a set of French doors leading to the parlor. The shell finally fell to the floor of the entrance foyer without breaking the glass.
"Three shots rang. I said, 'That sounds really close,' and I got scared, and then the fourth one was this one," the woman said, indicating the gouge in the wall.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, rushed upstairs to her husband, who was sleeping in a bedroom. They called 911.
Shots were still being fired when an officer arrived at their home, said Police Chief James Downes.
Police say those shots came from a nearby
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house, at 800 Main St., where two law-enforcement officers were allegedly drinking.
Downes declined to identify the two men linked to the shooting because criminal charges have not been filed. A source said one of the men works for the Reading Police Department and the other for the Middlesex Sheriff's Office.
"They were law-enforcement officials, and their agencies were called to take administrative action," Downes said.
The woman said the Dunstable officer who came to her Oak Street house wasn't sure if he was being shot at and entered with his weapon drawn. He then left her and her husband while he searched behind the house and determined where the shots were coming from.
Dunstable town records indicate that David Winkowski lives at the Main Street home. A Deputy David Winkowski drove the Middlesex Sheriff's 40-foot mobile command center during a relief effort to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, according to a newspaper account at the time.
The Reading officer has not been identified. Reading Police Chief James Cormier yesterday declined to discuss the incident.
"We are aware of the situation that occurred in Dunstable," Cormier said. "It's an internal personnel matter and I'm not at liberty to discuss internal personnel matters."
Sheriff James DiPaola's office did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
A reporter knocked on the door of 800 Main St. yesterday, but there was no answer.
Chief Downes said Dunstable police have not yet filed charges against the men because of "conflicting reports" given during the investigation. Police did, however, file a complaint against both men in Ayer District Court, alleging negligent use of a firearm, discharging a firearm while intoxicated, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and discharging a firearm within 150 feet of a roadway, Downes said.
He declined to explain the conflicts in the reports given to police.
"There needs to be judicial review to determine if there's enough evidence to file criminal charges against these individuals," Downes said.
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Gun blasts, a woman nearly hit, and questions
By Jack Minch, [email protected]
Article Last Updated: 08/23/2007 11:44:02 AM EDT
DUNSTABLE -- She was sitting in a lounge chair in the living room of her Oak Street home, watching television, when the round ripped through a screen on an open bathroom window, rattling off walls and doors and hitting about 4 feet over her head, showering her with pieces of plasterboard as she ducked in fear.
The shotgun blast, fired shortly before 10 p.m. on Aug. 4, left a dent in the front door, where the shell ricocheted before striking a glass pane on a set of French doors leading to the parlor. The shell finally fell to the floor of the entrance foyer without breaking the glass.
"Three shots rang. I said, 'That sounds really close,' and I got scared, and then the fourth one was this one," the woman said, indicating the gouge in the wall.
The woman, who asked not to be identified, rushed upstairs to her husband, who was sleeping in a bedroom. They called 911.
Shots were still being fired when an officer arrived at their home, said Police Chief James Downes.
Police say those shots came from a nearby
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house, at 800 Main St., where two law-enforcement officers were allegedly drinking.
Downes declined to identify the two men linked to the shooting because criminal charges have not been filed. A source said one of the men works for the Reading Police Department and the other for the Middlesex Sheriff's Office.
"They were law-enforcement officials, and their agencies were called to take administrative action," Downes said.
The woman said the Dunstable officer who came to her Oak Street house wasn't sure if he was being shot at and entered with his weapon drawn. He then left her and her husband while he searched behind the house and determined where the shots were coming from.
Dunstable town records indicate that David Winkowski lives at the Main Street home. A Deputy David Winkowski drove the Middlesex Sheriff's 40-foot mobile command center during a relief effort to Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, according to a newspaper account at the time.
The Reading officer has not been identified. Reading Police Chief James Cormier yesterday declined to discuss the incident.
"We are aware of the situation that occurred in Dunstable," Cormier said. "It's an internal personnel matter and I'm not at liberty to discuss internal personnel matters."
Sheriff James DiPaola's office did not return a telephone call seeking comment.
A reporter knocked on the door of 800 Main St. yesterday, but there was no answer.
Chief Downes said Dunstable police have not yet filed charges against the men because of "conflicting reports" given during the investigation. Police did, however, file a complaint against both men in Ayer District Court, alleging negligent use of a firearm, discharging a firearm while intoxicated, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and discharging a firearm within 150 feet of a roadway, Downes said.
He declined to explain the conflicts in the reports given to police.
"There needs to be judicial review to determine if there's enough evidence to file criminal charges against these individuals," Downes said.
![[popcorn]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/043.gif "Popcorn [popcorn]")
![[thinking]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/010.gif "Thinking [thinking]")
