New England News

Friday, May 25, 2007

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Police arrest man armed with a shotgun

MILFORD, Mass. -- A Milford man was arrested after he allegedly taunted one of his tenants with a shotgun.

Police arrested Billy Tower after he allegedly pulled a gun on a woman who he was renting space to in his home.

"I'm in a room, in a house, by myself with a man with a shotgun," Jaimie Savell, victim, said. "I mean I was petrified."

According to police, Tower was illegally renting rooms in his home on Purchase Street. When Savell went into the home to retrieve her possessions, Tower allegedly threatened her with a shotgun.

"Well we know the individual, and we know that he's not licensed to possess firearms, clearly he had a weapon, and we know of his past, we know of his mental state," Chief Thomas O'Laughlin of the Milford Police Department said.

Police blocked off the street, evacuating 25 homes in the neighborhood, and moving residents to a nearby intersection.

"There were police with heavy artillery out there, with guns in the middle of the road, which I have never seen before," Anne LaMontagne, neighbor, said.

The SWAT team caught up with Tower, who was riding down the street on his bicycle. Police allegedly found two knives on his person and a loaded single-barrel shotgun inside of his home.

According to police, Tower acted baffled about the entire incident.

"He didn't possess it, he just had it in his hands," Chief O'Laughlin said when asked about Tower's explanation.

Tower is charged with possessing an unlicensed gun, and will spend the holiday weekend behind bars. He is expected to be arraigned in Milford District Court on Tuesday.

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