No suspect identified in fatal Lynn shooting

Authorities have identified a 29-year-old man gunned down steps from his Lynn home, but identified no suspects or motive in a shooting that has rattled residents of the typically quiet neighborhood.

Hanky Betancourt, 29, was shot and killed outside his home at 390 Chestnut St. in Lynn, according to Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett’s office.

Neighbors reported hearing a rapid series of gunshots at about 8 p.m. Friday.

“No way I was going to go out there. I just rolled out of my bed and stayed on the floor and that was it. I didn’t go near the window or anything,” said a woman, who declined to give her name. “This is a first for me. I’ve been here 20 years and this was the first time something like this has happened since I have been here.”

The woman said she saw police gathering shell casings along the sidewalk of the busy street. Shattered glass and a few feet of leftover police tape was all that remained of the crime scene by yesterday morning.

Betancourt was shot while sitting in a car on Chestnut Street, across the street from his home, according to another neighbor.

“I thought I heard five shots,” the man said, also declining to give his name. “I came outside after about a half hour and the police had blocked it off. They said a man was shot in his car.”

The man said he lives with his mother, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and has been in the neighborhood for more than two decades, and had never heard gunshots until Friday night.

“At first I thought it was firecrackers,” he said. “I was nervous about it and my mother was shaken up. She was concerned about the shots, definitely.”

Lynn police responded to Lynn Union Hospital for a report of a shooting victim at 8:15 p.m. Friday, according to Blodgett spokeswoman Carrie KimballMonahan. No arrests have been made, but the Essex DA’s Office, state police detectives and Lynn police are continuing to investigate the shooting with help from the state police crime scene, ballistics and K9 units.