2 people in custody after double shooting outside Brockton District Court
BROCKTON – Two people went to the hospital after a shooting in broad daylight outside of the Brockton District Courthouse.
A gun was recovered and police took two people into custody.
Antwon Barrett-Smith, 18, and Neandro Mendes, 18, are each facing a long list of charges including assault with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building.
Both men were ordered held pending a dangerousness hearing following their Tuesday arraignments.
Prosecutors said court officers witnessed a fistfight outside the courthouse around 12:30 p.m. and a short time later Barret-Smith was allegedly seen flashing a gun. Shots were fired a short time later.
All people involved in the incident were known to one another, prosecutors said.
"They were just like swearing to each other," said a witness who didn't want to be identified. "Then out of the blue, I just heard 'help, help, help!'"
Phone video shows a woman on the sidewalk, injured. She can be heard screaming in the background during the police dispatch call.
"One of the guys had blood on his hands, so I don't know if he was trying to help her," said the witness.
Injuries to a a 37-year-old woman from Brockton and a 19-year-old man from Brockton are not considered to be life-threatening.
Police imposed a temporary stay-in-place order in nearby buildings, including City Hall, the health department, central school office, and war memorial.
"There's no respect. Even the police were here, the detectives and everybody, but it's like they ignore everybody," said a nearby shop owner. She said she was already packing up her inventory to move out when the shooting happened. Security video captured a robber shatter her window on July 4th. The store was also robbed the week before that. "So, I'm just moving out from this place because unfortunately what has happened in Brockton is very sad, because you hear every day something happens," she said.
