An 18-year-old Lynn man accused of the shooting of a 68-year-old grandmother in Chelsea, Massachusetts, last week was held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing after his arraignment on Wednesday.
Jefferson Barrillas, 18, of Lynn, was arrested Tuesday afternoon at a relative's house in Malden by the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Section, who assisted Chelsea police detectives in the ongoing search for the suspect.
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Barrillas was arraigned in Chelsea District Court on charges of assault with intent to murder on a person over 60, assault and battery with a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.
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In court, his attorney said police still haven’t recovered a weapon and there’s no evidence tying him to the shooting.
"No civilian witnesses identified him. None of the people the same. And none of the people on the video identified Mr. Barrillas as the shooter.”
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According to police, a 68-year-old woman was shot while she was trying to get in her car shortly after 1 p.m. on April 21 near 78 Washington Avenue. She initially tried to drive herself to the hospital but was eventually taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for a serious but non-life-threatening chest wound.
"It's a miracle that we're talking about a survivor. Someone who was shot in the upper right arm and in the chest. And it is literally a miracle that she's alive," District Attorney Kevin Hayden said Wednesday after speaking with the victim and her son.
The woman is expected to recover. Family members said she was released from the hospital last week.
Police said they did not believe the woman was the intended target and said the shooter was thought to be aiming at people in another vehicle that fled the scene.
"Brazen acts like this in broad daylight without any conscience for the safety and welfare of others is completely unacceptable," he added in a statement.
Hayden noted that the victim was worried for the safety of children in the area after she realized she was shot, because there was a school nearby.
Chelsea police said they were ultimately able to develop information that Barrillas was involved in the shooting.
The day after the shooting, detectives came upon Barrillas, who was driving a rented Zipcar. Officers approached him while he was stopped in traffic, but he used his vehicle to evade police. In doing so, he struck a Chelsea police detective, who suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene.
Barrillas reportedly took off into East Boston over the Chelsea Street Bridge. The vehicle was located later that night in Lynn.
A woman who identified herself as a relative of the victim told us the woman has eight grandchildren.
"We don’t need a police response to these incidents. They did a great job here. We need a community response to incidents like this. We can no longer accept these sorts of things happening," she told NBC10 Boston & NECN.
People who live in Chelsea said crimes like these are unacceptable.
“An innocent person, it’s not even the intended persons they’re shooting, they just have so many – they have no regard for the city.”
“In broad daylight it’s crazy, you don’t really feel safe, Chelsea’s home, but it’s tough.”
No further information was immediately available.
