Thanksgiving Day shooting critically injures woman, endangers Manchester families

MANCHESTER, N.H. — A Maine man is accused of shooting and critically injuring a 39-year-old woman in Manchester and endangering several families celebrating Thanksgiving.

Jeremy Sterling, 25, of Waterboro, Maine, was arrested Thursday for attempted murder and three counts of reckless conduct.

Court documents obtained by Boston 25 News indicate Sterling confessed to the crime to police, describing a Glock 27 handgun, which police found under his car.

“Sterling stated, ‘Yes, I shot her three or four times,’” the arrest warrant says of Sterling’s alleged statements to a Manchester police officer questioning him. “Sterling stated, ‘I was trying to kill her.’”

The victim suffered two gunshot entry wounds to the chest and the area of her upper arm and shoulder, with exit wounds in two areas of her back. She remained in critical condition at Catholic Medical Center Friday afternoon.

Stray bullets were sprayed into nearby apartments. One pierced the window of a child’s bedroom where kids had been playing and at least 15 people were home. The bullet ended up lodged in the wall above a crib.

Two doors down, a bullet pierced the window of another apartment, entering a room adjacent to where a family was, including four children.

A 13-year-old witness told police, “he heard gunshots, looked out the window, saw a guy shooting and a girl running away and get into a car.”

At Sterling’s arraignment Friday, Patrice Casian, Assistant County Attorney at the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office, called the crime “a senseless act of violence” without “any reason.”

But court paperwork shows Sterling told police he had had an argument with the victim’s son weeks before, and, he said, he discovered the back window of his car smashed Wednesday.

Sterling told police he was sitting in his car Thursday, when the victim opened his driver side door and pointed to the back window, claiming responsibility for the damage, according to the arrest warrant. Sterling told police he then began shooting at her, the documents say.

“This is an extremely violent individual, your honor,” Casian told the judge. “The police found the gun underneath the vehicle, and the reports indicate that there was an extended magazine and the gun held at least 22 rounds of ammunition.”

The judge held Sterling on $500,000 bail. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, as he did not yet have an attorney.

Cox Media Group