PEABODY — A gunman zeroed in on a car with three occupants yesterday morning on a downtown, residential street.
No one was injured in the shooting on Munroe Street, and the man police identified as the shooter, a 19-year-old Lynn man, was arrested a short time later.
Hector A. Batista will be arraigned today at Peabody District Court on numerous charges related to the shooting, including three counts each of armed assault with intent to murder.
Police Capt. Dennis Bonaiuto, department spokesman, said investigators are looking into the possibility that the shooting was gang-related. Furthermore, police are looking to see if previous reports of gunshots in the area are connected to Batista.
Police responded to the area of Munroe Street, a few steps from Peabody Square, at 10:25 a.m. after reports of gunshots.
Police officers first to arrive spotted a 1997 Honda Accord with its rear window shot out.
"Responding officers and detectives were able to combine information obtained from witnesses at the scene with existing criminal intelligence within the possession of the Peabody police," Bonaiuto said.
Police and detectives learned the car used by the shooter was a dark-colored Ford Taurus. Police also learned the license plate number and identified a suspect.
Police gave out that information to area departments, and a short time later, Lynn police stopped a Ford Taurus driven by Batista on Chestnut Street, more than four miles from the crime scene.
The Taurus belongs to Batista's girlfriend, Michelle Doucette, according to police.
Lynn police found a handgun on Batista when he was stopped, Bonaiuto said.
Lynn police turned Batista over to police in Peabody, where, in addition to the armed assault charges, he was charged with three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count each of unlawful possession of a gun, unlawful possession of ammunition and discharging a gun within city limits.
He was held overnight without bail at Middleton Jail.
This is not the first time Batista has been arrested, according to police documents. In 2008, he was arrested three times. On April 8, he was arrested in Peabody for throwing a brick through the windshield of a police cruiser. Two days later, he was arrested at the Liberty Tree Mall by Danvers police on charges of shoplifting and receiving stolen property. On May 29, Batista was arrested in Salem on cocaine-possession charges.
Police yesterday also arrested Eliezer Castro, 20, of 500 Essex St., Apt. 44, Lynn, on warrants for drug charges, aggravated assault and battery, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Police did not say if Castro was inside the shot-up car or in the car with Batista.
Yesterday wasn't the first time residents of the neighborhood have reported gunshots.
On Sunday at 1 a.m., police received multiple reports of gunshots on Elm Street, which intersects with Munroe Street. No victims were found in that incident.
Munroe Street residents, who were away at work at the time of the shooting, were stunned by the news on their street.
One resident reported seeing heavy police activity and crime-scene tape at the end of the street, which connects to Hardy Street and a large parking lot.
Assisting in the investigation were Capts. John DeRosa and Joseph Berardino; Sgt. Vincent Patermo; Patrolmen Robert Mahoney, Richard Heath, Richard Rose, Fred Wojick, Daniel Jenkins and Patrick Berardino; Detective Sgts. Tom O'Keefe, Glenn Fredricks and Charles Randall; and Detectives David Murphy, Eric Ricci, Robert Church, Antone Sims and Stephanie Lane. State police assigned to the district attorney's office also responded.
