A quiet Sunday evening at Lake Mascuppic turned tense when police say a Dracut woman fired multiple gunshots during an argument near Willowdale Beach. Witnesses told officers that the 36-year-old driver extended a handgun out the window of her vehicle and fired into the air, leaving a shell casing in the sand before speeding off. Tyngsborough officers later tracked down the vehicle outside a Parham Road bar and detained the suspect without incident. Authorities identified her as Jessica Morrow.
According to CBS Boston, Dracut police were called around 8:40 p.m. Witnesses reported that Morrow fired three shots from the driver’s-side window of a black Honda CR-V, then drove away from Willowdale Beach. Responding officers recovered a shell casing at the scene. Tyngsborough police later found the Honda parked on Parham Road, and a K9 search turned up a Glock 9mm handgun in bushes near the bar. No one was hurt, and Morrow was taken into custody without incident. She is charged with discharging a gun within 500 feet of a building, disturbing the peace, carrying a firearm without a license, and having an unregistered car, and was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Lowell District Court, CBS reports.
Lake Mascuppic and summer patrols
Lake Mascuppic sits on the Dracut–Tyngsborough line, a busy 217-acre stretch of water that locals rely on for swimming and boating once the weather turns warm. The two towns had recently stepped up marine patrols after securing extra state funding and rolling out new boater-safety rules, the Tyngsborough Police Department says, putting officers on the water to watch for safe operation, life-jacket compliance, and impaired-boating violations.
Local coverage has long described Mascuppic as a popular summer destination. The Nashua Telegraph has noted past donations to the police marine unit and ongoing patrol efforts on the 217-acre lake, underscoring how seriously neighboring towns take public safety on the water.
Legal implications
Morrow faces charges that include discharging a gun within 500 feet of a building, carrying a firearm without a license, disturbing the peace, and operating an unregistered vehicle. Under Massachusetts law, firing a gun within 500 feet of a dwelling or other building is criminalized in Mass. Gen. Laws c. 269 § 12E and can carry a fine and up to three months in jail, according to Justia. Carrying a firearm without a license is governed by state weapons law and can bring mandatory penalties, Mass.gov notes, while disturbing the peace is addressed in G.L. c. 272 § 53, per Mass.gov. How the case unfolds will depend on formal court filings and any prior record.
Morrow was scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Lowell District Court, and police are asking anyone who witnessed the incident or has video to contact Dracut or Tyngsborough detectives, according to CBS Boston. The investigation remains active, and local authorities declined to provide additional details in the initial report.
