Barnstable police investigate tourist shooting

By Milton Valencia, Globe Staff

The vacationer who was shot in the back by an unknown assailant sometime Friday night in the Cape Cod community of Hyannis has been identified as a school official from Connecticut. Patrick Shanahan, 42, is still recovering at Brigham and Women’s Hospital from the single gunshot wound, according to local media reports and Suffield Academy in Connecticut, where he was a guidance counselor.

"We are relieved to report that Patrick Shanahan, a valued member of the Suffield Academy community, is in good spirits following this terrible incident," Charles Cahn, the academy's headmaster, said in a statement. "Like all of our faculty members, Patrick’s contributions to Suffield are treasured. We have already received an outpouring of support and get-well wishes on his behalf."

Shanahan was found alone on Barnstable Road in Hyannis Friday night suffering from a single gunshot wound to the back. He reportedly suffered a severed spinal cord from the shooting.

It was not known what Shanahan was doing on the road in Hyannis: it is not considered a tourist destination. He had been vacationing with family in Dennis at the time.