A person was shot and and suffered a life-threatening injury Thursday after tackling a pro-Israel demonstrator in Newton, Massachusetts, the district attorney said.
The shooting happened at around 6:40 p.m., and details were very preliminary, Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan said.
A small group of pro-Israel demonstrators were on one side of the street, and the person who was later shot was “apparently completely randomly walking down the other side of the street,” and there was an argument, she said.
“There were things being said across the street back and forth,” Ryan said. “Ultimately that individual came very rapidly across the street and tackled one of the demonstrators.”
A member of the demonstrating group, a 47-year-old man from Framingham, then shot that person, she said.
“There was a scuffle that was going on on the street,” Ryan said, and at some point one of the demonstrators “used a gun and fired a shot that struck the individual who had come across the street.”
What the argument entailed was not clear. Asked at a news conference if the person shot was anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian, Ryan said, “I think it’s too soon to get into that.”
There have been protests and demonstrations across the U.S. in the months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attacks against Israel that killed over 1,200 people, and Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, where the Gaza health ministry has said over 41,000 have been killed.
The suspect was arrested and is charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and violation of a constitutional right causing injury, Ryan said. He is the legal owner of the gun that was used.
Attempts to reach a phone number associated with him in public records were not immediately successful, and it was not clear if he had an attorney late Thursday.
He will be arraigned in court Friday, Ryan said.
The person who was shot, who has not been identified by authorities, sustained injuries that are life-threatening and was at a hospital Thursday night, Ryan said.
At one point the person who was shot went into the street toward the demonstrators and then returned back to the other side, before crossing the street and tackling the demonstrator, she said.
The shooting and what occurred is under investigation.
Acting Newton Police Chief George McMains asked anyone with video of what occurred or information to contact the department’s detective bureau.
There will be extra police patrols at houses of worship over the next several days, McMains said.
Mayor Ruthanne Fuller called for patience and calm as investigators look into what occurred.
“Let the Newton police do their work and get the facts straight,” Fuller said. “It’s really early stages of an active investigation.”
Newton is a city of around 88,000 just west of Boston, in the Boston metropolitan area.
