PD: Man arrested after two Methuen homes were struck by bullets

METHUEN, Mass. — Methuen Police have arrested a man after he allegedly fired multiple shots into two homes early on Saturday morning.

Police were dispatched at around 1:55 a.m. to the area of Weybosset Street at Clifton Road for reports of multiple shots fired.

Upon arrival, police learned that John T. Pappalardo, 51, of Methuen may have had fired multiple gun shots in the area near his home and his neighbor's home.

Preliminary investigation showed multiple bullets were found on the victim's houses, and thankfully, no injuries were reported.

The tight knit and relatively quiet neighborhood was shocked to learn shots had been fired in the area, narrowly missing a child.

"We thought it was just kids playing around with fireworks because the area that we are in is always quiet and peaceful," said John Pina, a local resident.

What Pina didn't know at the time was that the "fireworks" he had heard were, in fact, shots fired through a window, right into his step son's bedroom.

Thankfully, the boy had crawled into bed with his grandmother and was never in his own bed. The bullets went through the bedroom wall and into the bathroom.

“I woke up and I had my window open and I heard shots and I looked out the window and didn’t see anything but heard three more," said Linda Plain, a neighbor. “It was my neighbor that was distraught and went on a shooting rampage and thank god no one got hurt.”

Police located Pappalardo after they learned he had been seen driving a dark colored pickup truck away from the scene. He was found inside his home and taken without incident.

According to police, Pappalardo was arrested and charged with eight counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, two counts of malicious damage over $250 and discharging a firearm within 500-feet of a building.

He is being held at the Methuen Police Station on a $50,000 bail and is expected to be arraigned at the Lawrence District Court on Monday.

“I think he was just lonesome or something happened to him in his life, he just lost his dad and I think he was feeling lonely and (that's) why he shot up the houses, I don’t know - only he can answer that," Pina said.

Cox Media Group