No one was injured in the shooting, but Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said a bullet passed through the door of a family with a 5-year-old and 7-month-old as they were sitting down to dinner.
A witness told police the shots were fired from a red Ford Escape with out-of-state plates. Police found a car matching that description Thursday in the parking garage next to Macy’s and began surveillance, del Pozo said.
When a man returned to the vehicle, police approached him and smelled marijuana. The man said he had smoked pot, and police brought in a drug dog, who signaled the presence of drugs, del Pozo said.
After obtaining a search warrant, police reported finding 80 grams of crack cocaine and two handguns. The driver, 28-year-old Quincy Alexander, was arrested. Alexander has felony convictions in New York state that prohibit him from owning a firearm, according to U.S. Attorney Eric Miller.
Alexander is being charged in federal court with being a felon in possession of a firearm and with possession with intent to distribute cocaine base, Miller said in a news release. The gun charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years, while the drug charge carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
Police are still investigating the Hyde Street shooting, and Alexander has not been charged in relation to that incident.
“The combination of drugs and guns is a lethal one that has no place in the Burlington community,” Miller said in a statement. “We will not tolerate gun violence in Burlington and our response to it will always be relentless.”
Mayor Miro Weinberger, who had expressed concern about the Hyde Street shooting last week, expressed gratitude Friday for the quick work by police and prosecutors.
“The arrest late (Thursday) of a career criminal in connection with Wednesday night’s Hyde Street shooting is another example of meticulous and relentless police work by the Burlington Police Department. The community owes thanks to the U.S. attorney’s office as well for filing federal charges against the suspect so quickly,” Weinberger said in a statement.
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