Bullet grazes sleeping Lawrence girl; police recover at least seven shell casings

By Melissa M. Werthmann, Globe Correspondent

An 11-year-old girl was asleep in her bed when a bullet penetrated the wall of her Lawrence home and grazed her shoulder, police said.

Officers responded at 4 a.m. to a call of shots fired at a home on Brook Street and found the girl suffering from a wound that appeared to be from a bullet grazing, said Police Chief John Romero

The girl was sleeping on the first floor of the three-decker home with a younger sibling, Romero said. The sibling was not injured. The girl was taken to Lawrence General Hospital with injuries to her collar bone that were not considered life-threatening. She has since been released.

Sometime after 3 a.m. a man entered the communal hallway of the building and tried to get to the third-floor apartment. Six to eight people were on the second floor and questioned the man, Romero said. The man said he was visiting a woman, but the people told him he had to leave.

The visitor then asked to use their bathroom, but the people escorted him out of the building, Romero said. They told police they did not know the man.

A short while later, the people saw the same man in the passenger seat of a burgundy vehicle driving past the house while they were on the porch, Romero said. The people told police the car parked near the house and soon after, they heard multiple gunshots.

Romero said officers recovered at least seven shell casings from the scene and that the incident is under investigation.

He said police get reports of shots fired in the neighborhood from time to time, but that they believe the shooting is directly related to the earlier incident involving the visitor.

Police asked anyone with information to contact detectives at 978-794-5900, Extension 625.