N.H. man indicted for firing AK-47 in Lynn restaurant

SALEM – Anthony Gobbi, the 30-year-old New Hampshire man charged with opening fire with an AK-47 high-capacity rifle at customers and employees inside the China Lion restaurant in Lynn last month has been indicted on multiple charges by an Essex County grand jury.Assistant District Attorney Michael Patten presented evidence to a grand jury on Wednesday, resulting in 25 indictments being handed up against him late Wednesday afternoon.Gobbi, a former Lynn resident of Euclid Avenue, who currently resides at 90 Burley Park Drive, East Wakefield, N.H. is charged with 13 counts of assault with a dangerous weapon, four counts of possession of a large-capacity feeding device without a license, two counts of receiving stolen property as well as carrying a large-capacity firearm without a license, carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a firearm having been previously convicted of a crime, possession of ammunition without a license, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and discharging a weapon within 500 feet of a building.According to reports, on the night of Dec. 5 just before midnight, Gobbi walked into the China Lion restaurant at 8 Market St. and asked for a beer, but was denied service by the bartender because he apparently was intoxicated.Gobbi left the establishment, only to return allegedly armed with an AK-47 and began firing randomly at customers and employees.As everyone ducked and hid under tables, a patron from Reading lunged at him, pushed Gobbi outside the restaurant onto the sidewalk and held him at bay until police officers Ross Panacopoulos and Richard Fucci arrived at the scene and took him into custody.A Glock semi-automatic pistol fell out of Gobbi’s pocket during the scuffle.The weapons were apparently taken from his parents’ home in New Hampshire.Gobbi, who works as an assistant manager at Speedy Auto Service in Lynn, reportedly told police he was intoxicated and can’t remember the incident and that he was trying to kill himself and hoped a cop would come along and shoot him.No one was seriously injured during the shooting.”It was a miracle no one was seriously hurt,” Patten commented following the grand jury return Wednesday.The indictments now move the case from Lynn District Court, where Gobbi has pleaded innocent, to Salem Superior Court, where he will be re-arraigned within a few weeks.In the meantime, Gobbi remains held without bail after Judge Michael Lauranzano determined he posed a danger to himself and the community.Patten said he expects to file a petition to have Gobbi held without bail again as a dangerous person when he is re-arraigned.Gobbi is expected to be re-arraigned within a few weeks in Superior Court.