1 Dead, 1 Wounded In Stoneham Shooting
STONEHAM (CBS) – A U.S. Army veteran is dead and a second wounded after a shooting in Stoneham early Wednesday morning.
It happened around 1:30 a.m. at a home on Micahs Pond Way.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports
Stoneham Double Shooting
The Middlesex District Attorney's office confirmed the death, but would not release the names of the victims.
A family friend, Joseph Alessandro, identified the person killed as 26-year-old Joseph Puopolo Jr. of Stoneham.
Alessandro told reporters he was Puoplo's godfather and that Puopolo was a member of the Special Forces who just returned home from Afghanistan.
Puopolo Jr. had just returned from Afghanistan about a year ago. The family even received a letter praising him for saving someone's life.
Puopolo was visiting a friend at the house in Stoneham when both were shot, according to Alessandro.
There's no word yet on the condition of the friend who, according to Medford police, is the stepson of a Medford police officer.
Three people were arrested overnight, two in Stoneham and one in Medford, in connection with the shootings.
The man arrested in Medford, Aniston Harrison, is facing drug charges. He was arraigned Wednesday morning in Somerville District Court. His attorney claimed Harrison had nothing to do with the shootings and that he pulled over near the scene because he was lost. Police arrested him because he had marijuana and a knife. Harrison was ordered held on $10,000 bail.
The two arrested in Stoneham have not been identified. They are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon in Woburn District Court.
A heartbroken father remembered the son he loved and lost.
"He's a gentleman, everyone you talk to would say 'what a wonderful son you've got", said Joseph Puopolo, Sr.
According to court documents and Harrison's attorney, Harrison was in Stoneham early this morning but says he was not near the crime scene and does not know the victims or the suspects.
Harrison says he got lost on the way home from Boston and pulled over in Stoneham but he has no idea how he got linked to the crime.
For now he is being held on drug charges only.
The Puopolo family says they have no idea what happened early this morning.
"I just can't believe this, who would do this to him," wonders the victim's father.
Nobody answered the door this afternoon at the home where the shooting took place.
It is unclear what led up to the shooting in the first place.
The D.A. said the shootings do not appear to be random.
WBZ-TV's Michael Rosenfield contributed to this report
