(Jay Saulnier file photograph for WHAV News.)
Reports of drive-by shooting last night sent Fountain Street area neighbors into a panic, but the situation wasn’t as it first appeared.
There was a gunshot, but it was apparently accidentally self-inflicted. The combined victim and alleged culprit, 23-year-old Kadeem Pimentel, was arrested early this morning on firearms charges after he reportedly accidentally shot himself with a sawed-off shotgun as he was placing the weapon into his waistband.
Haverhill Police combed the area around 8:30 p.m. after reports came in, eventually focusing on Pimentel of 88 Fountain St. Pimental, according to Haverhill Police, said his leg was grazed by a bullet, but refused treatment. A Haverhill Police incident log shows police went again to Pimentel’s home just before 11 p.m. Capt. Stephen J. Doherty Jr. said police used a search warrant and discovered the sawed-off shotgun and another shotgun.
After an investigation led by Officer Dana Burrill Jr., Pimentel was arrested at 3:25, this morning. He was charged with possession of a sawed-off shotgun and unlicensed ammunition, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of homes, using a firearm without a firearms identification card or license and obstructing a police investigation.
Pimentel is scheduled to be arraigned today in Haverhill District Court.
Pimentel previously pleaded guilty Feb. 1, 2016 to a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon, according to Carrie Kimball-Monahan, spokeswoman for Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett. The charge referred to an incident in 2014. He was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to stay away from the unidentified victim and not to possess firearms. Pimentel received 690 days of jail credit, according to Monahan.