Stoneham Shooting: 3 Suspects Arrested, Former Soldier Dead, 1 Wounded
Three people were arrested on Tuesday night in Stoneham, MA. for their alleged involvement in a late night shooting which left one dead and one wounded.
While police have not released the names of the victims, family friend, Joseph Alessandro, identified the person killed as 26-year-old Joseph Puopolo of Stoneham. Alessandro told local reporters that he was Puopolo's godfather. According to Alessandro, Puopolo was a member of the Special Forces who just returned home from Afghanistan.
The shooting took place at a single-family home in a cul-de-sac on Micah's Pond Way. The Middlesex District Attorney's office confirmed that one of the victims had passed. The shooting was not believed to be random according to District Attorney Spokeswoman Mary Beth Long. The name, gender, and condition of the wounded victim has not yet been released.
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"I don't believe it because his birthday was last week. He came out of the Army and everything…He'd give you the shirt off his back," Alessandro told NBS adding that it was his godson's ambition to become a man of the law. "He wanted to be a state cop. He was a fighter. He wanted to be. This is just mind boggling. I don't understand what happened. I just don't understand it."
Neighbors were equally as surprised about the incident. One retired schoolteacher, who has lived in the area for more than 37 tears, said the neighborhood was not known for violence.
"You hear about this type of stuff happening in Boston all the time, but not in a community like Stoneham,'' Marie Coughlin, 61, told Boston.com.
Alessandro told reporters that the three-bedroom home where the shooting took place had belonged to the parents of his godson's friend. Police arrived at the home with a K-9 unit early this morning and are currently investigating the case.
