Rapper held on shooting

A 26-year-old local rap artist is to be arraigned today at Lawrence District Court on charges related to a shooting last week that left Lawrence High School basketball star Hector Paniagua paralyzed from the chest down.

On Friday, Lawrence police arrested Luis Ramos of Haverhill, a member of the rap group Hitmakerz, after receiving a tip that Ramos had fired shots outside a downtown nightclub early Easter morning. Police Chief John J. Romero said Paniagua was an innocent bystander in an alleged altercation involving the rapper.

''This is something that outraged the community, and these guys weren't going to stop until they broke the case," Romero said of the shooting and investigation. ''It's just terrible. This pulverized the community."

Ramos was held yesterday in the Essex County Jail in Middleton on $100,000 cash bail, police said. He faces multiple charges of assault with intent to murder, police said.

The shooting is still under investigation, Romero said. Police are searching for three to four other young men who allegedly were traveling with Ramos in a green Honda, police said.

Paniagua, a high school senior who is seen as a role model in the city, just a few weeks ago led the Lawrence High basketball team the farthest it had ever advanced in the basketball finals. He was also the most valuable player in the Merrimack Valley Conference.

In the early hours of March 27, Paniagua was hit by an apparent stray bullet as he stood outside a downtown nightclub.

Paniagua is in stable condition at Boston Medical Center, his mother, Nora Payne, said yesterday in a telephone interview.

''He's fighting," she said. ''He's strong. He has a great spirit."

The family has been buoyed by an outpouring of support from the city and students, Payne said. Mayor Michael J. Sullivan told Payne about the arrest, she said. Colleges that scouted him as a basketball player are still offering him scholarships, calling him a role model. Friends baby-sit his brothers and sisters so Paniagua's mother can sit by his side, she said.

''To me, the most important thing is my son. But I thank the police. They haven't stopped fighting," she said.