No bail for Lynn shooting suspect

LYNN – A judge ordered a Salem man held without bail after police say the man shot two people sitting among a group on the steps of a Hanover Street apartment building Saturday.But a defense attorney said the Salem man was on a family vacation at the time of the alleged shooting and criticized how witnesses reportedly identified the defendant.”This is the worst identification procedure I’ve ever seen,” Attorney Raymond Buso said in Lynn District Court on Tuesday.Joshua C. Cromwell, 33, of 4 Emiton St., Salem, was arrested on a warrant for armed assault to murder; discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling; carrying a loaded firearm without a license; and a firearm violation with one prior violent / drug crime, at 12:18 a.m. Tuesday.He was arraigned on the charges Tuesday in Lynn District Court and a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf.Police responded to 38 Hanover St. at 9:53 p.m. Saturday and found a 24-year-old man lying in the doorway of the building and screaming he had been shot and could not feel his legs, Assistant District Attorney Brad Pappalardo said, summarizing from several Lynn Police reports.A second victim, whom police identified as a 38-year-old woman, told police she had also been shot. Pappalardo said both victims were uncooperative, telling police only that three unfamiliar black males approached the alleged victims while they were on the building’s front steps and one of the men shot them. Lynn Police Officer Roger Tinkham reported both victims had multiple gunshot wounds to their legs and buttocks.Two witnesses who said they were on the steps with the alleged victims, however, gave more detail.These witnesses told police three black men came to the bottom of the stairs and asked to speak with the male alleged victim, according to a report by Lynn Police Officer Christopher Hagerty.The male alleged victim refused to get up and then said “no,” when asked if he “had any dough,” police said. The witnesses told police the man who had wanted to speak to the alleged male victim then took out a gun and started shooting. Other witnesses reported seeing the three black men arrive and then flee the scene after gunshots.A person at the scene identified Cromwell as being involved, and the female victim said Cromwell was one of the three men who approached her and the male victim on the stairs, according to police. She reported she did not know if Cromwell was the shooter.But Pappalardo said one of the witnesses identified Cromwell as the shooter after seeing a picture of Cromwell on a person’s phone.Pappalardo said there was allegedly another shooter, but “most of [the witnesses] identify Mr. Cromwell as the shooter.”Pappalardo requested Cromwell be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.But Buso said he was “sure it’s unintentional” that Pappalardo did not mention how two of three witnesses failed to identify Cromwell’s picture in a photo array. The third witness hesitated at Cromwell’s photo and said the alleged shooter was “the same color,” according to a report by Lynn Police Officer Edward Pettipas. Buso noted that only when police pointed out if the person was wearing a baseball hat, for instance – which witnesses described the alleged shooter as wearing – and a piece of paper was placed over the top portion of Cromwell’s photo, did the third witness identify Cromwell as the shooter.Buso then said Cromwell was out of the city from Friday to Monday on vacation with several family members.Judge Emily Karstetter cited independent witnesses’ identification of the suspect in finding probable cause to hold Cromwell without bail pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Friday.Shawna Cromwell, a family member of the defendant’s, said Joshua Cromwell has had prior trouble with the law. But she said he had been on family vacation with multiple witnesses and had “nothing to do with this.””He’s turned his whole life around, and they’re trying to make him like he’s a bad person,” Shawna Cromwe