Witnesses say a gunman, with a spiked helmet, riding on a motorcycle, shot young woman

PROVIDENCE − A masked gunman riding in a group of motorcyclists shot a 21-year-old woman in the arm last Thursday, according to witness accounts provided to city police .

Police investigators were told that the shooter wielded a silver handgun and wore a helmet covering just the top of his head, with silver spikes protruding from it, said Providence police Detective Maj. David Lapatin.

A witness told police that the young woman was a passenger sitting in an Acura at the corner of Hooper Place and Linton Street when the motorcyclists arrived and the gunman tried to open the driver's door, Lapatin said.

A young man driving the Acura pulled away from the scene, which was just off Chalkstone Avenue in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood.

He told police he heard two gunshots and the car's rear window shattered, Lapatin said.

The young woman telephoned her mother, who later told police she had been inside a nearby home and she had heard motorcycles and shots, Lapatin said.

The shooting drew police to the scene at 9:42 p.m. Thursday.

The driver of the Acura, who helped the young woman get to Roger Williams Medical Center , told police that the gunman was in a gang of riders wearing vests.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Witnesses say a gunman, with a spiked helmet, riding on a motorcycle, shot young woman