LEWISTON — A teen accused of shooting two people with a pellet gun last week in two separate incidents told police he thought the weapon was empty when he started firing.

Ahmed Mohamed Yussuf, 18, also told investigators that once he realized he had shot two people, he destroyed the pellet gun and threw it in a dumpster on Lisbon Street.

Yussuf remained at the Androscoggin County Jail on Monday, charged with two counts of aggravated assault and two counts of reckless conduct.

Yussuf had originally been held on $100,000 cash bail. At his initial court appearance last week, bail was dropped to $25,000. He has denied the charges.

Police said that on the night of July 2, Yussuf fired the pellet gun while riding in the front passenger seat of a black SUV occupied by three other young men.

First struck was a 60-year-old man who was shot in the face just after 11 p.m. as he was walking in the area of Oak and Holland streets.

That man told police that the black SUV had pulled up next to him and that the occupants were yelling at him. Seconds later, the young man in the passenger seat pointed the gun and fired. The driver of the SUV then sped off, he said.

The 60-year-old’s injuries were severe enough that he had to be taken to a Portland hospital after he was initially treated at Central Maine Medical Center.

Ten minutes after that man was shot, a 34-year-old woman was struck in the mouth by a pellet while she walked in the area of Bartlett and Walnut streets. Witnesses said she dropped to the ground in pain as the driver of the SUV sped off.

Police who arrived at the scene examined footage from city cameras and quickly identified the suspect vehicle as a black Jeep. A short time later, they found the Jeep parked on Jefferson Street with two young men next to it, according to a court affidavit, filed by Lewiston police Detective Charlie Weaver.

The men were taken to the police station and questioned about the shootings, according to the affidavit. During the course of the police interview, one of the men admitted that it was his twin brother who had fired the shots out the window of the SUV.

That man agreed to contact his brother, Yussuf, and convince him to go to the police station. While being questioned, the affidavit said, Yussuf told police he thought the weapon had been empty when he pulled the trigger, and that he had only been trying to scare the victims.

Yussuf was arrested and has remained jailed since. No additional suspects have been charged, although the case remains under investigation.

The driver of the black SUV has not yet been identified, the affidavit said.