GROVELAND 一 Chief Jeffrey T. Gillen reports that the Groveland Police Department have charged a juvenile with assault and battery in connection with an incident last weekend.
A MALE JUVENILE, AGE 17, of GROVELAND, was charged with:
- Assault and Battery
On Saturday, July 15, at about 8:15 p.m., two children were walking in the area of Main Street and Broad Street. A passing vehicle slowed, and the passenger rolled down the window and shot what appeared to be a splatter ball gun at the children. A splatter ball gun shoots gel balls, pellets or beads.
Both children suffered bruises.
Following a preliminary investigation, Groveland Police identified the vehicle’s passenger, later determined to be the JUVENILE. He has been issued a summons to appear in Lawrence Juvenile Court on Aug. 2.
The investigation remains active and on-going. The driver of the vehicle, a juvenile believed to be from New Hampshire, has not been positively identified at this time.
This is the second such incident in recent weeks. On Saturday, June 17, at Groveland Police responded to the area of Main Street and Elm Park for a report of someone shooting pellets at pedestrians. A juvenile from Dracut has been charged in that case. No one was injured. The two incidents do not appear to be related.
Groveland Police believe the incident is related to a social media trend.
“It’s troubling to think it’s considered acceptable to scare and potentially hurt someone just to get attention on social media,” Chief Gillen said. “We ask parents to be aware of what their children are doing, and ask the public to contact us any time they see behavior they think is suspicious.”
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