A chaotic scene unfolded in Taunton, Massachusetts, late Friday evening when Taunton police responded to a 911 call of a home invasion that escalated to gunfire. Reports from the Boston.com detail how police arrested Joshua Manuel Deleon, a 22-year-old New Bedford man, after he allegedly shot another man during an armed altercation.
The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on Newcomb Place after distressing calls were received by 911 dispatchers, witnessing a person screaming in the background. Officers were quickly sent to the scene, where they were to later find two men entangled in a violent struggle inside a second-floor apartment. According to The Boston Globe, Deleon, who was found wearing body armor and sustained head trauma, was arrested and charged with numerous crimes including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and armed assault with intent to murder.
On the scene, law enforcement discovered Deleon and another man grappling on the ground; the latter suffering a gunshot wound to the leg. The officers, given the reported presence of a firearm, drew and pointed their weapons at the struggling pair, commanding them to stop. Both men complied, and emergency medical services were summoned to attend to the injuries, as reported by WCVB.
Further investigation by the officers revealed a firearm near Deleon and two additional firearms in the apartment, alongside three bullet casings on the floor. Upstairs bullet holes suggested that shots had been fired into the third-floor apartment during the commotion. A woman residing there with her four children was reported uninjured.
Both injured men were transported to local hospitals, with Deleon later airlifted to a Boston hospital for treatment of serious injuries. The other gunshot victim was expected to recover, according to local authorities. The police investigation indicates this was not an arbitrary act of violence but a continuation of a dispute that had its roots in another community, as police surmised. The Taunton Fire Department responded to provide emergency medical services.
