By Jim Clark

Somerville Police officers were dispatched to a Woods Ave. residence last Thursday to conduct a well-being check on all the occupants after receiving reports of a possible shooting.

The reporting party told officers that he came home and observed a hole in his ceiling. The residence is a two family dwelling. The reporting party is the owner of the residence and rents the upper unit to a couple and the female partner’s mother.

After noticing the hole in his apartment, the reporting party made his way to the second floor and asked about his discovery.

During their conversation, the reporting party observed a hole in the floor in the same area as the hole in his apartment. He determined that the hole came from a bullet being fired and then notified the police.

After finding no injured parties inside the apartment, the officers quickly removed all of the occupants and secured the scene.

The officers obtained a written consent from the upstairs residents and searched the apartment for firearms, ammunition and any other ballistic related evidence. During the search, an officer located one box of 9mm caliber ammunition inside a closet located in a bedroom on the front side of the home.

The residents of this unit denied having any knowledge regarding the ammunition and the discharging of a firearm inside the apartment.

At that time, the occupants were all seated outside on the front steps of the home. They were later interviewed by various Somerville Officers and a Somerville Police Department detective.

As the officers conducted the interviews, three notable individuals arrived at the home. They were identified as Robert Loper, of Cambridge, the brother of the male resident, along with two other brothers. Initially, all three men reportedly denied having any knowledge of the incident.

Police informed Loper of the ammunition found inside his brother’s bedroom, at which time he reportedly became visibly upset and inquired of potential legal actions that could be taken against his brother.

In the meantime, police had acquired a photo taken by the reporting party’s roommate which allegedly showed Loper leaving the home after a “popping sound” had been heard.

The photo showed Loper carrying a large duffel bag walking eastbound on Woods Ave. towards North St. After learning this information, police read Loper the Miranda warnings and questioned him about his involvement in the event.

During the conversation, Loper reportedly admitted to knowing more about the event and requested for his brother to not be charged with a crime. Further, he attempted to negotiate returning the firearm discharged inside the home if guarantees could be made that his brother would not be charged.

The Massachusetts State Police (MSP) Ballistics, Crime Scene Services personnel and an MSP chemist were all summoned to the scene. The latter tested Loper and his brothers for gunshot residue on their hands.

Loper later instructed his brother to contact an unidentified individual via cell phone to return the firearm. After what seemed to be long redundant discussions, the brother told police that the gun had been returned to a location in Cambridge by the aforementioned unidentified individual.

The brother provided detailed information regarding the location of the firearm. Officers later responded to the location with multiple Cambridge Police units to recover the firearm.

Loper reportedly admitted that the ammunition found in residence bedroom and the firearm located in Cambridge were his property. He also admitted that he had accidentally discharged the weapon while playing with it in the area located by the reporting party.

Loper was then placed in custody and transported to Somerville Police headquarters for booking on charges of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, possession of ammunition without FID card, and possession of firearm without FID card.