LYNN – A judge set $15,000 cash bail for a city man police said was found illegally carrying a gun that the defendant said he had retrieved after being shot at earlier in the day in Lawrence.”He began to yell that the gun wasn’t his,” Officer Ross Panacopoulos wrote in a police report. “He went on to say that he was shot at today in Lawrence and someone from his group was also shooting. He stated that he then saw the gun on the ground and picked it up and took it with him.”Jose Machado, 21, of 171 Washington St. #6, was arrested and charged with carrying a loaded firearm without a license; a firearm with a defaced serial number; and possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card at 12:54 a.m. Thursday.Lynn Police noted that Lawrence police confirmed a shooting in their city Wednesday and said nobody was injured in the incident.A confidential informant told police a Hispanic man would be leaving a Rogers Avenue apartment early Thursday morning and would be carrying a gun hidden in a backpack, Lynn Police Officer Richard Fucci reported. Police said they approached a man, later identified as Machado, who matched the description given by the informant when the man left the apartment.Police said Machado immediately – and without prompting – began denying things.”He stated ?it’s not my backpack,'” Lynn Police Officer Edward Pettipas reported. “Again with being asked anything he stated, ?I ain’t got nothing else on me.'”When asked what Machado had to begin with, Machado replied “it’s not even my gun,” Pettipas said.Police searched the backpack and recovered a 10 mm mini-Glock handgun with a single round in the chamber and a separate magazine containing an additional 9 rounds, according to police.At Machado’s arraignment Thursday, Essex Assistant Distant Attorney Andrew Boyd noted that Machado was on bail for a pending drug case and on probation in Lawrence District Court. He requested $15,000 cash bail.Lynn District Court Judge Stacey Fortes ordered $15,000 cash and scheduled Machado to return to gun court on June 28.Cyrus Moulton can be reached at [email protected].