ITEM PHOTO BY GAYLA CAWLEY
Lorraine Blowers DePietro sits in her car and shows where the car was hit by crossfire during a shooting on Saturday.
By GAYLA CAWLEY
LYNN — Lynn Police are investigating as many as six shootings in a 36-hour time span. One person whose car was hit by gunfire claims she was told by authorities the incidents could be retaliatory from Friday night’s fatal shooting that claimed the life of 29-year-old Hanky Betancourt.
Lynn Police Lt. James Shorten confirmed there have been three to six shootings between Friday around 6 p.m. and midnight on Sunday morning. For the safety of officers and to protect everyone involved, he declined to release further information, but said the shootings are still under investigation.
Shorten said one arrest is part of the investigation, and may or may not be related. Matthew Sao, 24, of 121 High Rock St., was arrested Saturday night and charged with firearm-related offenses, drug possession with intent to distribute, violation of the city knife ordinance, receiving stolen property and failure to stop/yield.
Betancourt, of Lynn, was shot in the area of Chestnut Street on Friday, and was pronounced dead at Union Hospital. No arrests have been made, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s office.
But Lynn native Lorraine Blowers DePietro, who was caught in some crossfire, said police told her there have been six to seven shootings in that timeframe and many of them are retaliation from Betancourt’s shooting.
DePietro, 51, lives in Georgia, but is visiting her sister, Kristin Blowers Melendez, and other family members in Lynn. She arrived Friday night and is planning to leave Monday. She said she was driving her brother-in-law’s gold SUV by Goodridge Street on Saturday just after 5:30 pm., when a bullet went through her driver’s side window and lodged itself in the leather seat she was sitting in, narrowly missing her body.
DePietro said she was out running an errand for her mother, Tally Blowers, and was on the phone with her husband, when she noticed a car that started to take a left hand turn, before the driver apparently changed his or her mind. At that point, she remembers hearing a weird, thud sound, and thought someone threw a bag or a water balloon at her car.
When she turned her head, DePietro said she saw the bullet hole, and thinking she had been shot, called 911. She said she had a burning sensation underneath her armpit and on her back from where the bullet whizzed by, but thought she had been hit. Within minutes, Lynn Police arrived, helped her out of her vehicle, and checked her back, but didn’t find any blood or signs of entry. Her coat protected her from worse injuries, but she was left with a burn mark and a bruising welt.
“All that was between me and the bullet was my leather seat cover and my flannel coat,” DePietro said.
Looking back, DePietro said her shooting could have easily been fatal. If she had her seat reclined, rather than situated straight, the bullet could have gone through her neck or into her body. If she was driving a car, rather than an SUV, the bullet could have gone through her head, because she would have been lower to the ground, she added.
“I do also realize how very lucky I am and how blessed,” she said. “(The bullet) just missed by millimeters. I felt the heat and the burning sensation.”
After her car was hit, DePietro said she heard three more gunshots, and at least one person was taken to Salem Hospital from the car in front of her that had started to take a left hand turn. Police told her nine shell casings were found on the ground.
“My first thought was wow, I’m pretty oblivious,” she said. “I didn’t even know a gunfight was going on in front of me. I’m too trusting of the area.”
Melendez, 42, said one police officer told her that a lot of the gunfire over the weekend was because of the fatal shooting on Chestnut Street. It was all retaliatory, she said.
“It was scary,” Melendez said of her sister’s incident. “You don’t ever think it would happen so close to anyone to you know …Things happen for a reason and this happened for some reason.”
Employees at nearby Mandee’s Pizza on Goodridge Street, described hearing several gunshots. Cortney Cook said she thought the shots were fireworks until she heard the police coming down the street. Christian Sanchez, another employee, said he heard as many as 12 gunshots, but didn’t see anyone get hit.
Scanner reports also indicated police responded to a shooting shortly afterward on Hanover Street. According to the Lynn Police incident log, eight gunshot reports were received from throughout the city between 8:13 p.m. Friday and 11:27 p.m. Saturday, beginning with the Chestnut Street shooting.
For DePietro, she thinks she had some help from a higher power. She and her family run a nonprofit, Hayley’s Hope Foundation, which started after another one of her sister’s only child died from suicide. The foundation tries to prevent suicides from occurring.
Melendez said when she looked at DePietro’s burn mark, it looked like angel wings. They think Hayley played a role in preventing further injury.
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley.
