UXBRIDGE, Mass. (WPRI) – Uxbridge police have filed charges against three people after an autistic man was shot with a BB gun.
Matthew Conrad was struck in the side with a pellet Wednesday while he was walking in his neighborhood; three people driving past in a vehicle allegedly verbally harassed him before they fired several shots at him. Matthew’s mother said that the incident left Matthew too scared to leave the house.
Saturday morning, Uxbridge police announced that they have arrested 19-year-old Samuel Patterson of Uxbridge and charged him with intimidation of a witness, disorderly conduct, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, disturbing the peace, assault and battery on a party disabled with injury, and firing a BB gun or air rifle from a road.
Two boys under the age of 18 were also taken in for questioning and police said they’ll be facing charges in juvenile court.
Police said there have been other BB gun shootings in Uxbridge and surrounding towns recently, including an incident that happened about twelve hours after Conrad was hit, in which someone shot at an Uxbridge police vehicle. It’s not clear whether or not the three suspects charged in connection with Conrad’s shooting were the same suspects in that incident.
