4 shot overnight in Providence

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- Providence Police say four people were shot in four shootings Saturday morning, and one arrest has been made.

The first incident happened shortly after midnight at 340 Elmwood Avenue.  Police found a man, 22 year-old Maxwell Duncan of Providence, lying on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds to his back and left leg.  He was taken to RI Hospital where he is listed in stable condition with non life-threatening injuries.

While police were investigating that shooting, another person arrived at Rhode Island Hospital via private vehicle, also suffering from a gunshot wound.  That victim is identified as 21 year-old Juan LaJara, also of Providence.  He had suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and is listed in stable condition.

According to Captain Michael Correia, police had spotted LaJara at the same Elmwood Avenue address before the shootings were reported, and are confident that's where he was shot.  Neither Duncan nor LaJara are cooperating with investigators and it's still unclear whether the two men were shot by the same person.  No arrests have been made.

At about 2:30 a.m., officers were called to the area of 270 Chad Brown Street for a report of another shooting.  When they arrived they found 33 year-old Jorge Semidey of Providence, who had been shot in the calf.  He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital and is in stable condition.  A Providence patrol officer broadcast a description of the shooter, who was soon found at the corner of Chad Brown Street and June Street.  Other officers arrested him at gunpoint, at which point he dropped a 9mm handgun.  The suspect, 36 year-old Jose Alfredo Lopez-Gutierrez, was identified by witnesses as the shooter and is being charged with two counts of felony assault and one count of possessing a firearm without a license.  Captain Corriea told Eyewitness News that Lopez-Gutierrez had also threatened woman at the scene of the shooting.

And a few minutes before 4 a.m., officers checked the are of the Smoke Lounge at 120 Spruce Street for a report of noise; they found nothing but shortly thereafter another person was dropped off at Rhode Island Hospital with a gunshot wound to the arm.  That victim, 31 year-old David Lassegue of Providence, gave investigators a description of his attacker and said he'd been shot at the Spruce Street address.  Officers who went back again to re-check the area then found some evidence of a shooting, Correia said.  No arrests had been made in that case either.

Police also say that they arrested a man Friday night after he fled from police and tried throwing away a handgun.  It happened at about 11 p.m. Friday on River Avenue, where a Providence patrolman and a State Trooper encountered a group of people standing in the road.  When the officers approached, one of the men ran and threw away a gun he had been carrying.  Officers caught him and recovered the weapon; he is identified as 20 year-old Jortum Stevens of Providence, who was among a group of people who had been shot back on May 21st on Academy Avenue.  According to police, Stevens admitted to having the gun and was wounded in the hand and cheek in that previous shooting.