Haverhill teen accused of shooting needle-tipped Nerf bullets is released from jail but confined to home
May 1—HAVERHILL — A Haverhill teen has been released after being held without bail on charges he shot needle-tipped Nerf bullets at a woman and her child.
The teen was ordered confined to his mother's home all hours of the day and night, and he must also wear a GPS tracking bracelet.
The conditions of release for Gianni Aviles, 18, of 40 Oak Terrace were ordered by Haverhill District Court Judge Mary McCabe during a dangerousness hearing last week, according to court officials.
Aviles must also have no contact with the woman and her son or any co-defendants in the case, according to the judge's order.
Aviles was arraigned on Monday of last week in Haverhill District Court on two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. He was ordered held without bail pending Thursday's dangerousness hearing, which was scheduled to determine if he is too dangerous to be allowed into the community while the case proceeds in court.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for May 21.
According to a police report, officers were called to 62 Portland St. on April 24 at 5:45 p.m. There, a woman told police she was getting out of her car when a black Honda Accord with several men inside drove up and shot at her with a Nerf gun, the report said.
The woman told police that she felt a "poke" on the right side of her chest and that she pulled out a Nerf bullet with a needle sticking out of it. She said she did not require medical attention.
The woman said her 4-year-old son was also shot at, and the bullet that landed near him also had a needle protruding from its tip, the report said.
The woman gave the two Nerf bullets to police, the report said.
Police said they reviewed surveillance video of the area that showed a black Honda Accord approaching the victim and a man in a white tank top sticking his arm out the rear passenger side window and pointing what appeared to be a Nerf gun at the woman's son. The boy was sitting in front of the entrance to 62 Portland St., police said.
Police said they issued an alert for the Honda, which officers stopped at 7:35 p.m. in the area of South Main and Ferry streets in Bradford.
The police report said four people were in the car — the driver and three passengers, including Aviles — police said in their report.
The driver admitted to police that his friends had been chasing each other around and shooting at each other, the report said. He said he was unaware strangers had also been shot at, according to the report.
Aviles told police he shot at the woman and her son on Portland Street, the report said.
A search of the Honda by police turned up a number of Nerf bullets that matched the description of those shot at the woman and her son, as well as some needles, the report said.
Police said they found a Nerf gun in the trunk of the Honda, and that the gun was loaded with a Nerf bullet tipped with a needle.
