Saturday, September 21, 2013

Slow Saturday Special: Martial Law Exercise in Everett

Seems that a SWAT team is standard issue for calls to the cops now.

"Everett standoff ends with one arrest, no injuries" by Jarret Bencks |  Globe Correspondent, September 07, 2013

EVERETT — A standoff that began Friday morning after gunfire was reported in an Everett neighborhood ended more than three hours later without anyone being hurt.

Nearby schools were put in lockdown as members of the North Metro SWAT Team swarmed a three-story home at 15 Calhoun Ave. about 10:30 a.m.

They stayed until nearly 2 p.m., when 18-year-old Shadane Richards was arrested on four charges in connection with the incident. No one was hurt, police said.

Police spoke to Richards multiple times using a bullhorn early Friday afternoon before he emerged briefly with his hands up on the second-level front porch, then went back inside.

Shortly after, he was taken from the house in handcuffs, placed in a police wagon, and driven away as a crowd that had gathered on nearby Elm Street applauded police.

During the standoff, Calhoun Avenue was blocked off, as police wearing body armor and armed with rifles surrounded the home. Neighbors gathered on Elm Street, which was also later blocked to traffic.

Anthony Cook said he had just parked his minivan on the street — outside Richards’s house — and gone to his back lawn when he heard shots. He said he returned to the street and saw bullet holes in his minivan and radiator fluid leaking from the vehicle. He also said he saw Richards cover his head with a jacket and run into the house.

Cook said he didn’t see anyone else on the street.

“He must have just come out and shot my car up,” Cook said.

Cook, who has lived on Calhoun Avenue for 11 years, said Richards lived at the house with his mother, and that the family had lived there for many years.

Anna Catania, 61, was sitting on the front steps of her apartment on Jefferson Avenue when she heard gunshots, she said. She watched the police from Elm Street on Friday morning.

“I heard four or five loud bangs, and I knew it was a gun,” she said.

Patti-Cake Day Care center, located at the intersection of Calhoun Avenue and Elm Street, had its blinds closed and doors locked during the standoff.

“I wouldn’t expect something like this to happen here,” said Julio Rivera, 29. “It’s a quiet neighborhood, there’s schools around . . . and in broad light? It’s crazy.”

Richards is charged with discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, possession of a firearm without a license, unlawful possession of ammunition and malicious destruction of property. He is expected to be arraigned in Malden District Court Monday.

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