Man dies after shooting near Fearing Pond in Plymouth
PLYMOUTH - Massachusetts State Police are investigating a fatal shooting near Fearing Pond in Plymouth's Myles Standish State Forest on Wednesday. Police are still searching for the suspect.
It happened just before 3 p.m. According to the Plymouth Country District Attorney, an altercation took place in a picnic area of the park. The victim, 25-year-old Robert Aponte-Flores of New Bedford, was shot several times and pronounced dead at a hospital.
The district attorney said this was not a random act of violence and there is no threat to the public.
A woman who spoke with WBZ-TV said she performed CPR on the victim before EMTs arrived. "The shooter was on the other side of the building. I immediately knew it was gunfire," said the woman who did not want to be identified.
Families and friends swimming in Fearing Pond suddenly ran for cover as bullets sprayed through the woods.
"On our way in we heard the gunshots. I told my mother to rush the girls back to the car," the woman said.
The victim was rushed to a local hospital, but in the time it took an ambulance to get deep into the state forest, witnesses took turns trying to keep him alive.
"The first person there with CPR he was there for a long time doing it; you could tell he needed relief. There was blood accumulating," the woman said. "He had three gunshots, one to the face, shoulder and arm. I relieved him with CPR. He was getting tired. That's when first responders came with defibrillators."
State and local police with the Plymouth District Attorney's office would spend the next few hours scouring the area, searching with dogs for evidence and a suspect.
"Most scariest thing I've ever done. And I'm really sorry for their family," the woman said.
The investigation remains active and ongoing.
Plymouth Police originally said a suspect was in custody, but a short time later, said that person was not the shooter.