GUNFIGHT LEAVES 2 PEOPLE WOUNDED

One man is in custody and police are still searching for several others
after a gunfight Tuesday night at a known drug house that left at least two
people injured in a nearby home.

Police recovered 26 shell casings on the road in front of 34 Walnut St. and
on nearby Payson Street, and bullets were fired into two floors of an
apartment building next door at 24 Walnut St.

Occupants of a second-floor apartment at 34 Walnut St. returned fire,
police said, although the building's owner said only the third floor is
lawfully rented.

"There have been overtones of drug problems at this particular address,"
police Capt. Joseph A. Carbone said.

Miguel A. Gonzalez, 23, who lives in a basement apartment at 191 Mechanic
St., was arrested when police saw him running from the shooting scene
Tuesday night carrying a gun. He was ordered held on $26,000 cash bail
after his arraignment in Fitchburg District Court yesterday on weapons
charges. He also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest as a fugitive
from justice from Union County, N.J., Capt. Carbone said. The New Jersey
warrant involves narcotics charges, according to court records. He told his
court-appointed lawyer he plans one day to open a barbershop. Mr. Gonzalez
pleaded not guilty and was ordered returned to court July 16 for a pretrial
hearing.

Witnesses said several men wearing hooded sweatshirts approached 34 Walnut
St. just after 9 p.m. Tuesday and opened fire. Some told police that
between four and six men approached the residence, while others guessed 10
people were involved.

Shots were returned from a second-floor porch, although police found no one
inside when they descended on the area after many 911 calls from the
neighborhood.

A white sport utility vehicle was recovered near 124 Crestview Lane later
Tuesday night, about two miles from the shooting scene, Capt. Carbone said.
Witnesses told police people from inside 34 Walnut St. had piled into the
car and fled.

The car, which had not been reported stolen as of yesterday, was registered
to a Summer Street man.

"They just walked up, pulled out guns and started shooting," said Steven
Emery, who owns the apartment building at 24 Walnut St. "It was just a lot
of shots."A stray bullet barely missed his wife, Esther, who was in the
kitchen of their second-floor apartment.

Mrs. Emery said she had just put a pie in the refrigerator when the shots
began.

"I heard a poof. I thought it just hit the house," she said. Moments later
she realized the bullet had come through the wall of her apartment and
become buried in her refrigerator.

"Somebody was watching me," she said. She bought a lottery ticket after her
good fortune. "I lost," she said.

"It was definitely a firefight," Mr. Emery added. "There were shots going
in every direction." He said neighbors knew drug activity took place at 34
Walnut St., but never had anything like the gunfight taken place. Angela
Emery, Steven and Esther's daughter, was on the porch when she saw people
approaching 34 Walnut St. and ran inside as the shots rang out. Larissa
Brennan of Florida, a Fitchburg native visiting family members, was shot in
the right leg while running to cover up Ms. Emery's 7-month-old daughter,
Anniesse, who was asleep in a first-floor bedroom. A bullet hole was left
in the center of the window. The infant napped in the same room again
yesterday afternoon.

A second person, identified in court records as Jason Jackson, later showed
up at HealthAlliance Leominster Hospital with a gunshot wound to the
abdomen. Police said he was transferred to UMass Memorial Medical Center --
University Campus in Worcester, but an administrative manager on duty
yesterday afternoon had no information on a patient by that name. Ms. Emery
said her friend "Jay," whose last name she did not know, had been at 24
Walnut St. when he was injured. He arrived at the hospital later, she said,
because he initially hadn't realized he had been shot. Another shot
apparently struck a utility wire, cutting power to the area, Assistant
District Attorney John Madaio told Judge Andrew L. Mandell Jr. at Mr.
Gonzalez's arraignment.

Officer Tabitha A. Pepple was responding to the scene when she saw a man --
later identified as Mr. Gonzalez -- running along Payson Street toward
South Street clutching a black handgun. Mr. Gonzalez allegedly threw the
gun aside before being arrested.

The gun had 10 bullets in the clip and one round jammed in the chamber,
Capt. Carbone said. Mr. Gonzalez denied firing the gun, claiming he was on
Walnut Street visiting friends when those who did the shooting arrived. He
said one man dropped the gun, then he picked it up and ran away. "They were
shooting at me," he told Officer Pepple as she took him into custody.