Chelsea

Chelsea Police Locate Car Possibly Connected to Thursday's Shooting

A 68-year-old woman was shot on Washington Avenue in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on Thursday afternoon

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Police say a driver they tried to pull over Friday afternoon "is believed to be related" to the shooting of a woman a day earlier in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

The Chelsea Police Department said a man believed to be a person of interest in the Thursday afternoon shooting on Washington Avenue took off, striking a detective's arm and knocking him to the ground.

The detective was treated at the scene and continued working, police said.

Police Chief Brian Kyes tweeted a photo of the vehicle and said the driver took off into East Boston over the Chelsea Street Bridge. Later Friday night, Chelsea police located the vehicle in Lynn. .

Video from the scene showed the car being towed away, and the police chief confirmed that it was the Zipcar they were looking for.

No one is currently in custody, and the search for the person of interest is ongoing.

According to police, a 68-year-old woman was shot while she was trying to get in her car shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday. She tried to drive herself to the hospital, but was eventually taken by ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for a serious chest wound.

The woman is expected to survive, authorities said.

Police do not believe the woman was the intended target and said the shooter was thought to be aiming at people in another vehicle that fled the scene.

A 68-year-old woman who was shot in broad daylight in Chelsea was not the intended target, authorities say.

Aerial footage showed a heavy police presence and crime scene tape being put up at separate locations on Washington Avenue and on Everett Avenue.

Police said Thursday that a silver Acura that might have been involved fled the initial scene but was later stopped in Revere. A male suspect was also seen fleeing on foot down Sixth Street toward the Silver Line MBTA station after the shooting.

Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said his office will assist with the investigation.

"Our office is on scene and providing all assistance possible to the Chelsea detectives investigating this tragic incident.  Our thoughts are with the victim and we wish her a full recovery.  This broad daylight shooting illuminates, yet again, the dangers posed by people who carry illegal guns and demonstrate no reluctance to use them," he wrote in a statement.

A man who lives in the area said he was opening the door to his home when he heard the gunshots.

"I heard five gunshots," he said. "I didn't see anything, but I heard the gunshots."

He said the area is usually pretty quiet, but there have been a few shootings in the past.

An investigation is ongoing.

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