Lewiston man police say was in shootout charged with gun crimes

AUBURN — A Lewiston man was indicted this week for being a felon shooting a firearm on Horton Street in July.

Matthew Gallagher, 27, of 86 Horton St. was charged by an Androscoggin County grand jury on Tuesday with reckless conduct with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, both Class C felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison. A third charge, receiving stolen property, is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail.

Gallagher was scheduled to appear in 8th District Court in Lewiston today for his arraignment where he’ll be expected to enter a plea to the charges. He is in Androscoggin County Jail in lieu of $30,000 cash bail.

Police responded to dispatch calls for an active shooting behind 84-86 Horton St. in Lewiston at around 9:15 p.m. on July 10.

Detective David Levesque wrote in an affidavit that a witness had spotted two men by a fence behind 90 Horton St. She said she saw one of the men shooting a gun in the direction of Howe Street. His position was consistent with .40-caliber shell casings recovered by police, Levesque wrote. The woman picked Gallagher out of a photo lineup.

A source told police Gallagher had been staying on a couch on the first floor of 84 Howe St. with his girlfriend. That source said Gallagher had hidden a handgun in a stuffed frog in that apartment.

A search of the apartment turned up a 9mm round in a closet, a stolen Lewiston Fire Department two-way radio with Lewiston Police as a primary channel, a large amount of marijuana, scales and other paraphernalia, according to the affidavit.

Several people in the apartment building told police they had seen Gallagher with a handgun recently. He had told them he needed it “for protection.”

He was later picked up on a warrant.

Levesque wrote that Gallagher had been involved in at least two downtown Lewiston shootings. One of those prior incidents took place behind the Lewiston Public Library at 139 Park St. in April, where he had been shot at by a group of Somali males who had been retaliating for Gallagher having apparently shot at one of them earlier in Kennedy Park. During the library shooting, the vehicle Gallagher had been driving was struck by bullets, Levesque wrote. A stolen Glock was found in that vehicle, he wrote.

On the night of the July 10 shooting, police said surveillance video showed a group of five Somali males exiting a vehicle parked in front of 87 Howe St. shortly after 9 p.m. They walked toward the rear of 84 and 86 Horton St., one of the males placing an object in the small of his back.

They were seen running back to their vehicle about seven minutes later. One of the males was seen aiming a gun in the direction of 86 Horton St., “apparently shooting while he was running,” Levesque wrote.

Their vehicle then drove off.

Police found “numerous shell casings” at the back of 86 and 90 Horton St. and in front of 87 Howe St.

Witnesses told police a group of Somali males had engaged in a gun battle with two white males.

Two different caliber shell casings were recovered in the area, Levesque wrote. A bullet was removed from the hood of a van parked in the driveway of 87 Howe St.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

Sign In: