Recently in Violent Crime Category

Police were called to Crosby Street in Back Central this afternoon at 4:40 p.m., after a 911 caller reported hearing five or six shots fired.

Officers arrived within about a minute and soon found eight shell casings in the street, near Kinsman Street, including five from a 9mm handgun, and three from a .45 caliber handgun, as pictured below...

About 30 yards up the street, police found three vehicles and an apartment building that had all been struck by bullets, and Angel Rodriguez, whose first-floor apartment at 102 Crosby St., had a bullet fly right through the wall.

Below is a shot of the overall crime scene. The shots were fired from the right of the photo, which is where the casings were found, to the left of the photo. Rodriguez lives in the yellow building. The black Explorer, silver Camry and silver Taurus were all hit.

Rodriguez told me he was in the kitchen getting coffee when he heard "bang bang bang" and figured someone was setting off fireworks outside. He soon went outside and heard there had been gunshots, though.

Back inside, he saw some woodchips on top of his stove, and when he investigated further he found a bullet hole in the wall behind his television.

Above is where that bullet entered the wall, and below is where it came out of the wall.

That bullet passed through Rodriguez's television stand, flew over a love seat where Rodriguez said he always sits to watch television with his 2-year-old son, and then struck a wooden post behind the love seat.

"I always sit there," Rodriguez said.

"That was right at head level," a police officer told Rodriguez. "If you had been there, that would have been it."

Rodriguez said his son was in another room at the time. His wife was away.

Below is some of the other damage that was found outside. First a Ford Taurus that was shot in the tire.

A Toyota Camry that had a bullet hit the top of the trunk and then the rear window.

And then a Ford Explorer that had a bullet go through the windshield and dashboard.

At least two other bullets also struck the outside of 102 Crosby St., as seen below. There was no indication any of these shots penetrated the wall, though.

Police were searching for a white Nissan Maxima containing four Asian males, all of whom were dressed in white, who were seen fleeing toward Kinsman Street following the shooting.

All of this comes after at least four shots were fired on Gates Street on Saturday night.

There was also a shooting on Merrimack Street early Saturday morning, though I'm still waiting for a call back with details about that incident.

Bullets have damaged two homes, three vehicles, and one person so far this weekend. That sounds to me like a lot more damage than was caused in Lowell when Hurricane Earl passed through.

Anyone with information on any of these incidents is asked to call Lowell police at 978-937-3200 or Crimestoppers at 978-459-TIPS (8477). Information can also be sent to police via Text-a-Tip, by texting TIP411 (847411) with the subject "LPDTIP."
Tipsters can remain anonymous, but can receive up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.

City police were called to 23 18th St., this morning about 4 a.m., for a report of a man stabbed and arrived to find an 18-year-old Lowell man on the floor of a home bleeding from multiple stab wounds.

They soon found a second man, the first victim's 19-year-old brother, on Bridge Street nearby also suffering from stab wounds.

Police say both men had been inside 23 18th St., when several unidentified men showed up. The brothers left with those men, and were stabbed a short time later with a folding knife.

Both men were taken to Lowell General Hospital, but the 18-year-old was later transferred to a Boston hospital. The injuries were serious, but not thought to be life-threatening.

Police closed Bridge Street between Ludlam and Richardson streets for a while this morning while they investigated and collected evidence.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lowell police at 978-937-3200 or Crimestoppers at 978-459-TIPS (8477). Information can also be sent to police via Text-a-Tip, by texting TIP411 (847411) with the subject "LPDTIP."
Tipsters can remain anonymous, but can receive up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.

A 47-year-old Lowell woman was watching television in her apartment at 38 Gates Street in the Highlands tonight when bullets started flying through the windows.

Officers were dispatched about 8:45 p.m., for a report of shots fired into the house. No one was hit.

Officers found four shell casings in the street, and said four bullets struck the house and its windows, as seen below.

At least one other window also got hit.

The 47-year-old woman who lives in the unit was too shaken up to tell me much more as she sat on her front porch wrapped in a blanket. She certainly didn't look like someone gang members or drug dealers would be targeting, though.

God only knows what they were shooting at.

The suspects fled the scene in a car, but a description was not immediately available.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lowell police at 978-937-3200 or Crimestoppers at 978-459-TIPS (8477). Information can also be sent to police via Text-a-Tip, by texting TIP411 (847411) with the subject "LPDTIP."
Tipsters can remain anonymous, but can receive up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.

I'm sorry I didn't blog about this sooner, but I spent all day and evening around the crime scene at 586 Bridge St., where police were called about 2 p.m., for a report of an unresponsive child.

Inside the apartment building pictured below, officers found Deanne Fontes, 17, and her live-in boyfriend Brian Nutter, 28, performing CPR on Fontes' 2-year-old son Dean McCullough.

Dean was taken from the apartment to Lowell General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Fontes, and Nutter, pictured below, were taken in for questioning, but eventually allowed to return to the scene last night, though they were not allowed back into their apartment while police sought a search warrant.

They spoke to news crews as they waited, saying police had suggested that Dean was strangled.

Fontes and Nutter said they had just put Dean down for a nap yesterday afternoon, when less than five minutes later Nutter went to get a drink and heard the boy screaming, shaking, and unable to breath.
They tried to perform CPR and called 911.

"He had a seizure, and we tried to save his life," Nutter said.

"I didn't hurt my child and neither did my boyfriend," Fontes said through tears. "He was a lovely little boy."

Fontes and Nutter both said Fontes' three-year-old, Thomas McCullough, has long fought with his brother, and often hits him with toys. They said they always pull the children apart and try to stop Thomas, and even considered putting the boys into a "sibling rivalry" class.

"Thomas likes to bite Dean, punch him, throw toys at him, hit him with toys," she said.

Fontes also said Dean had been sick lately, throwing up, and that he fell out of his crib on Tuesday night and struck his face.

District Attorney Gerard Leone's Office has said only that they are investigating the death, and that the State Medical Examiner's Office will conduct an autopsy.

Fontes said authorities took custody of 3-year-old Thomas until they can figure out what happened, and she said he was taken to a Boston hospital to be checked for internal injuries, even though she said he wasn't hurt.

Below is a couple clips of Fontes speaking to us, along with some video of detectives arriving and searching the apartment.

I'll post a link of my story, which contains even more details, on Thursday as soon as it appears on our website.

At one point during our conversations, a reporter asked Deanne Fontes how difficult it is to be considered a possible suspect even as she mourns the death of her son.

"It sucks," she said. "It makes me want to die."

Also, I forgot to include a photo credit. The second picture in the entry is a screen capture the crew from Fox25 made for me since I didn't catch a good photo of Fontes and Nutter talking to police.

I finally got a chance tonight to talk at length with Deputy Ryan about Saturday's incident in which a man took three hostages while trying to rob a downtown bank, and then fired two shots at police before killing himself.

Here, though, is a pretty detailed accounting of Saturday's events, along with a photo of Sgt. Morrill, areas associated with the incident, and some commentary at the end.

LOWELL -- He wore a suit, tie and glasses and carried a briefcase, but after entering the Lowell Co-operative Savings Bank on Hurd Street just before closing time Saturday, the man pulled a handgun and took three hostages.
Soon, he would try to take a cop hostage, too.
Three unidentified bank employees had already been tied up when police say William Champagne began emptying drawers and grabbing cash, setting off a silent bank alarm in the process.
Sgt. Stephen Morrill, a 23-year police veteran who works as a street supervisor downtown, was just around the corner when he overheard a routine call for a bank alarm at 1:10 p.m. The bank was supposed to be closed at 1.
"This is clearly one of those situations where a call that is rather common for the Lowell Police Department turned out to be a very uncommon situation," Deputy Superintendent Arthur Ryan Jr. said yesterday as he provided a detailed account of Saturday's incident.
Police declined to make Morrill available for an interview.

What follows is the description of events as provided by Deputy Ryan.
Morrill arrived at the bank and peeked in a window. He saw someone inside.
"As he's looking inside, Champagne opens the door, shows him a gun and tries to take Morrill hostage," Ryan said.
Morrill immediately retreated from the door and drew his own handgun, taking cover behind a nearby parked car.
As he did, Champagne ran from the bank, across Hurd Street and into a narrow alley that runs from Hurd Street to Green Street about 100 feet away.

Morrill followed, being sure to keep cover behind a car, but as he entered the alley he saw Champagne pull back the slide on his handgun to chamber a round.
Morrill stepped away from the car and took cover behind a building just as Champagne fired a gunshot into the car Morrill had been behind.
Champagne ran to the end of the alley, then turned and fired another shot into the car.
Ryan praised Morrill for relying on his training, instincts and awareness and for being cool enough not to shoot back at Champagne in such a crowded location downtown.
"The alley ends at Green Street, where cars could be coming by, and there's a parking lot," Ryan said. "It's not a good spot for Morrill to return fire at that distance."
Despite being shot at, Morrill also had the presence of mind to keep other officers and dispatchers informed of what direction Champagne was headed, Ryan said.
"With full knowledge, he pursued an armed bank robber into an alley, and even after being fired on, he didn't just stop," Ryan said. "He continued to let other officers know what was going on and continued the pursuit."
By the time Morrill continued chasing Champagne down the alley onto Green Street, and then Central Street, more than a dozen officers, including Capt. James McPadden and three other officers conducting traffic patrols nearby, were converging on the area. Officers from UMass Lowell and the National Park Service also rushed to the scene.
A retired Lowell police officer who works as a security guard at Washington Savings Bank, at the corner of Middlesex and Gorham streets, told officers he saw the man they were chasing duck down an alley between Middlesex and Jackson streets.
Officers soon realized Champagne was somewhere along that alley and found him on a roof about 20 feet up a cast-iron fire escape behind Cappy's Copper Kettle at 245 Central St.

McPadden and Lt. Barry Golner began organizing more than a dozen officers, sending some to surround the suspect, others to the bank and others to clear everyone out of 245 Central St., in case Champagne was inside and trying to take more hostages.
"It was pretty clear he did not want to go back to jail," Ryan said of Champagne. "He did not want to get arrested, and in that type of desperation, bad things happen."
The officers sent to the bank found three employees tied up but uninjured. A state police helicopter and SWAT team were on their way.
Champagne continued talking to officers as he crouched on the roof behind 245 Central St.
"After a short conversation with Champagne, officers heard a single gunshot come from the rooftop," Ryan said.
Police confirmed Champagne shot himself. Officer Michael Sylvester and other officers rushed to provide first aid and kept Champagne breathing until EMTs arrived.

Ryan would not say exactly what Champagne said to officers as he hid on the roof behind 245 Central St., but said he provided no warning that he was thinking of taking his own life.
"He gave no indication that he was about to do that," Ryan said.
Champagne was taken to Cawley Stadium and flown to Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, where he died about 3:30 p.m.
Prosecutors have said they believe Champagne acted alone.
"This is one of the dangers of police work," Ryan said. "Even though you go to 100 alarm calls that turn out to be false, you can't assume the next one is going to be false."

I've known Sgt. Morrill for a while now thanks to some time he spent working early nights up until a few years ago. None of this surprises me at all, although I bet he will really hate getting so much attention when he sees tomorrow's paper.

A few seconds later police caught the guy on Cabot Street, just around the block.

Tewksbury Police are investigating a reported stabbing at the Oakdale Mall, near Shawsheen and Main streets, according to radio broadcasts.

I haven't heard medics go so I don't think it's life-threatening.

I'll try to get more details later tonight. Police are still on scene.

This was a false alarm, no stabbing, just a fight amongst some kids. This is why reporters should never put absolute faith in scanner broadcasts that indicate the way an incident is reported.

Reports, and the facts as they are determined by officers once they arrive at a scene, can often be vastly different.

Prosecutors say 13-month-old Kaydn Hancock, pictured below, appeared happy and healthy the night before he died.
He fed himself cheerios and drank a bottle before going to bed about 8 p.m.

The next day, May 12, at 4:29 a.m., Kaydn's mother called 911 and told a dispatcher her child had fallen out of his crib. His obituary said the same thing.

But the State Medical Examiner's Office did an autopsy and said Kaydn died from blunt force trauma. He had "multiple traumatic injuries," including contusions, lacerations, internal bleeding, and hemorraghes on the top of his head, according to prosecutors.

Kaydn Hancock, at 13-months-old, was a victim of homicide, according to the medical examiner.

On Tuesday, about 1:30 p.m., Kaydn's mother was arrested in her home at 187 Great Road, Acton on a warrant charging her with a single count of first degree murder.

Christina Hancock, 23, was taken immediately to Concord District Court, where she was held without bail following arraignment.

"This defendant is alleged to have beaten her own child with such severity that the violent nature and broad scope of his injuries were fatal," District Attorney Gerard Leone said in a prepared statement.

Leone said Hancock is also accused of previously failing to get Kaydn treatment for a broken arm even though she had noticed he wasn't crawling or using the arm for several days.

This case never made the paper before this that I know of, but even Kaydn's obituary simply says he died from a fall. Prosecutors automatically investigate whenever a child so young dies.

Acton Police Chief Frank Widmayer has referred all questions to Leone's office.

Leone's office says Kaydn was home with his mother and 2-year-old sister the night before his death. He appeared to be happy, though prosecutors don't report how they know that.

Kaydn's father, Lamar Woodard, of Framingham, according to his obituary, could not be reached tonight. Neither could any other family members. I'm not sure if Hancock has an attorney yet.

When police, firefighters, and EMT's arrived at her home early in the morning of May 12, Kaydn was unconscious, and struggling to breathe.

He was pronounced dead at Emerson Hospital roughly 45 minutes later.