Winthrop man attacked by masked gunmen

By Joseph Domelowicz Jr.

A Winthrop man returning home to his Shore Drive residence at about 12:20 a.m. Tuesday morning was confronted by a pair of masked gunmen in an incident police say may not have been a random robbery attempt.

“It appears, because of the circumstances of the attack that this victim was targeted for this crime,” said Lieutenant Detective Brian Perrin of the Winthrop Police Department.

According to Perrin, the victim exited the vehicle and noticed one of the two attackers standing in hisdriveway and brandishing a gun.

“He tried to give him his watch and his wallet, but the suspect refused to take it and tried to lure him further into the driveway,” said Perrin.  “At that point, the victim began to think that this was moe than a robbery and he lunged at his attacker and the gun  went off in the fight.”

The bullet from the weapon wet through an exterior of wall of the home and lodged itself in an interior wall in the first floor apartment. According to police, tenants of the first floor unit were home at the time and heard both the commotion in the driveway and the gunshot.

“This could have been a real tragedy if someone inside the house had been walking through the interior room when the weapons fired,” said Perrin.

Eventually, the attackers gained the advantage on the victim and began pistol-whipping the man, before fleeing the scene.

He sustained some pretty serious facial injuries and was taken to the Massachusetts General Hospital, to have his injuries treated and to be evaluated further,” added Perrin. “Witnesses at the scene reported seeing a white BMW SUV pull up to the house shortly before the victim arrived home. the passenger in the vehicle exited the SUV and went into the driveway. the driver oif the vehicle parked the car around the corner from the home, on Dolphin Avenue, and walked to the driveway as well.”

Police are suspicious about the nature of the attack and say that it indicates the victim was targeted for the attack, because the attackers appear to have laid in wait for the victim to arrive home. Two witnesses said they saw the attackers drive away immediately following the attack, but they could not get a clear view of the faces of the suspects.

“We’ve interviewed th victim at length and have received a great deal of information from him,” said Perrin. “We may have some suspects, in the form of  some previous business customers. But, we’re following up on every lead and we believe we have suspects in the case soon.”

Perrin said that when suspects are taken into custody, they will likely be facing charges for  armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and attempted murder.