Temple Street Gunfire Seen Connected to Swasey Shootings

Haverhill Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro and Mayor James J. Fiorentini address reporters at Swasey Field. (WHAV News photograph.)

Haverhill Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro, Mayor James J. Fiorentini and Recreation Director Vincent Ouellette particpated in a press conference last month after two men were reported shot.

Gunfire erupted in the Mount Washington neighborhood late Thursday afternoon in what police suspect may be gang-related retaliation linked to last month’s Swasey Field shooting.

No injuries were reported following the 5:25 p.m. reports of shots fired near 72 Temple St. WHAV was alerted to the report of gunfire by a passerby.

“There is an active crime scene in that area,” confirmed Captain Robert A. Pistone, police spokesman. “Witnesses on the street heard shots and then saw someone running away from the scene with a handgun.”

Police are asking the public for any information they may have about the incident. Police accept anonymous tips by telephone at (978) 374-2411 or online at http://www.cityofhaverhill.org/departments/community_connect.php.

Last month, a 16-year-old man was charged with shooting two rival gang members at Swasey Field. The juvenile, arrested at Temple and Reed Streets in Haverhill, was charged with two counts of assault to murder while armed, one count of carrying a firearm without a license, one count of carrying ammunition without a FID card, and two counts of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling. He was also arrested on a warrant out of Essex Juvenile Court for failing to show up in court on a charge of possession of Class D drug with intent to distribute.

Two young male victims were taken to Holy Family Hospital at Merrimack Valley, Haverhill. One of the victims was later transported to a Boston hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injury, according to Carrie Kimball-Monahan, spokesperson for Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett.

During a press conference Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro said evidence suggested the shooting took place between rival gangs.

One thought on “Temple Street Gunfire Seen Connected to Swasey Shootings

  1. Andy Vargas: Last week you called for people to TAKE ACTION on the issue of guns, and research the social factors relating to the issue. Well, here’s YOUR chance!!

    As an acting public official are YOU calling for an investigation on where gang members in the city are getting the guns they use in these shootings? Are you meeting with the law enforcement professionals in the city who deal with this every day and inquiring how it is 16 year old children can easily get guns?

    Andy….are you digging into the issue of these shootings to determine who exactly the gang members are that are involved? Are they US citizens or criminal trespassers living in this country illegally? Anchor babies maybe? Are they second or third generation welfare babies living off of the plentiful government financial assistance available in this state? Are the drugs they are selling and fighting over making their way to Haverhill via the sanctuary city Lawrence and before that the wide open southern borders of this country?

    This is your chance Andy….let’s see what you do with it.