The New England Signal
Independent journalism covering all six New England states
Massachusetts

Everett man faces gun charges after rifle shot rings out at soccer game

Police say an argument at River Green Park ended with a man getting a semiautomatic rifle from his car and firing once. No one was injured.

EVERETT, Mass. — A 25-year-old Everett man was arrested on firearms charges after a single rifle shot was fired during an argument at a soccer game at River Green Park in Everett on the night of Nov. 8, The Boston Globe reported. No one was hurt.

Everett police identified the man as Bryan Villeda Pineda. In Facebook posts quoted by the Globe, the department described a "dispute during [a] soccer game" that sent the man to his car. He got the gun there and "fired off one round," police wrote.

Officers were called to the park at about 8:45 p.m. on reports of gunfire. By the time they arrived, the shooter had left.

Investigators recovered the rifle from Villeda Pineda's Everett home. That search followed a warrant secured in the early hours of Nov. 9, and police said they believe the semiautomatic weapon they seized is the gun that was fired at the park. The department also released a photo of it.

Police rejected earlier accounts that called the gun an AK-47 machine gun, saying that description was false and that the weapon is a semiautomatic rifle, according to the Globe.

Somerville police helped make the arrest, which came early Monday, Everett police said. Villeda Pineda was scheduled to appear that day in Malden District Court for arraignment. The specific charges were not detailed. They are allegations, and he is presumed innocent.

Massachusetts