Contact: Beth Stone- (508) 584-8120
PLYMOUTH – A Whitman man has been arraigned on charges he fired a gun at a plow driver during Saturday night’s snowstorm, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.
Bruce O’Brien (DOB: 12/03/55) of Whitman was arraigned today in Plymouth District Court on one count each of Discharging a Firearm Within 500 feet of a Building, Carrying a Firearm Under the Influence of Liquor or Drugs, Disorderly Conduct and Assault with a Dangerous Weapon. Bail was set at $2,500 in cash and O’Brien was ordered to surrender all of his firearms to Whitman Police and stay away and have no contact with the plow driver from the incident.
Just after 7 pm Saturday, Plymouth Police responded to the area of Rocky Hill Road in the Manomet section of Plymouth for a report of shots fired from a motor vehicle. Several neighbors outside shoveling in the area reported hearing three to four “popping noises” consistent with the sound of gunfire, coming from the street.
Police pulled over O’Brien in a 2015 Black Jeep Cherokee and observed three spent shell casings in the front passenger compartment of the Jeep. Two loaded pistol magazines were also located in the front center console of the Jeep. Police towed the Jeep and brought O’Brien into the Plymouth Police station. O’Brien told police that while attempting to pass and go around a plow, the driver veered his plow into the passenger side of the Jeep, nearly striking the Jeep where O’Brien’s passenger was sitting. O’Brien, who is properly licensed to carry a firearm in Massachusetts, said he feared for his life and fired three shots from his black Springfield .45 ACP out the window at the plow driver.
O’Brien pleaded not guilty and is next scheduled to appear in court on February 23, 2016.
The case was investigated by Plymouth Police Department.
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