Man charged with attempted murder in shooting inside Worcester high-rise

WORCESTER ― Police had a busy Tuesday afternoon with two shooting incidents happening three miles away and just 90 minutes apart.

A city man who is charged with shooting his girlfriend inside the Belmont Tower Apartments, also known as the James P. Lennon Apartments, is being held pending a dangerousness hearing early next week. The shooting happened at 4:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Belmont Tower is a Worcester Housing Authority property.

Joshua A. Negralle, 30, is charged with armed assault to murder, possession of a large-capacity firearm, assault and battery with a firearm, large-capacity firearm stored improperly, possession of firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, defacing the serial number on a firearm, possession of a firearm without an FID card, and possession of ammunition without an FID card.

Negralle was in a dating relationship with the victim and living in the same household, according to court documents.

Negralle, who was in possession of a Glock firearm, intentionally discharged two rounds directly at the woman, according to court documents.

Police said she suffered a nonfatal gunshot wound.

Negralle discharged the firearm inside a high-rise apartment complex that includes almost 200 units, according to the statement of facts.

Police found a 9 mm Polymer P80 with a light attachment and no serial number, which was possessed by Negralle, according to court documents.

The firearm, capable of accepting a magazine holding more than 10 rounds, was in a bag of clothing with no locking device. The firearm was loaded and had one round in the chamber, according to court documents.

Assistant District Attorney Cailin Bullett and Hillary Fenton, attorney for the defense, agreed on a recommendation that Negralle be held pending a dangerousness hearing on Monday. Judge Robert J. Pellegrini agreed.

Earlier Tuesday, before 3 p.m., police were dispatched to Camp Street for a report of a person with a gun. A neighbor reported that she had heard five shots while in her kitchen and, looking out the window, saw a man cut through a hole in a metal fence into St. John’s Cemetery on Cambridge Street.

Police collected five shell casings off the ground in front of one of the residences on the dead-end street, while a cruiser combed St. John’s Cemetery for reports that the shooter had fled into the cemetery.

No arrests have been made nor any injuries reported, according to police. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Man charged with attempted murder in shooting inside Worcester high-rise