Groton police look into incident of stranger offering student a ride

Groton — Police are looking into an incident this week in which a stranger offered a ride to a Cutler Middle School drama club student who was waiting for her ride outside of the school's main entrance.

Principal Peter Bass said in an email to Cutler families on Thursday afternoon, “A woman who was not known by the student pulled up and offered to give her a ride. The student wisely walked back into school and the car pulled away. Groton Town Police were notified and are continuing to follow up on the situation.”

Sgt. Kelly Crandall said the incident occurred on Monday and a teacher informed police. She said in these cases, police look to see if there was any surveillance and notify area police departments.

Police were not able to get a license plate number and have not identified the woman who offered the student a ride, she said.

Bass said in his email, “We have taken additional supervisory safety precautions for students who are at school for extracurricular activities, especially for those that end after sunset. I encourage you to continue to have discussions with your child(ren) about knowing what to do to keep themselves safe in situations such as the one that occurred earlier this week.”

Crandall said incidents like this don't happen very often. the right buttocks.

George A Taylor Jr., 44, of 12 Home St., Apt. 1, was charged with first-degree assault, unlawful discharge of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and alteration of firearm identification mark, number or name.

Police said they were alerted to the shooting at 1:27 a.m. Friday, when the female victim called to say she had been shot at 12 Home St., a building that contains five apartments.

On scene, police found the woman with a gunshot wound to the right buttocks, which they said is not a life-threatening injury. Police also located Taylor, the alleged shooter, with a superficial laceration to the left hand.

Crews took both to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

Police searched Taylor's apartment and secured the building for evidence collection. Through their efforts, officers recovered a Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handgun, according to police.

Officers remained on scene at 9 a.m. Some spoke to neighbors on nearby Franklin Street. Another stood in the doorway of 12 Home St.

Taylor remained in custody on a $200,000 surety bond. Police said additional charges are pending.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call city detectives at (860) 447-1481 or to submit anonymous information via the Tips 411 system. To do the latter, text “NLPDTip” plus the information to 847411. armed with a knife in Lawrence + Memorial Hospital on Friday morning.

According to police, L+M security personnel called police to the hospital at 12:26 a.m. They told police the man was threatening hospital staff in the emergency room area.

Staff restrained the man before police arrived. One staff member sustained a minor injury in the process.

Carlos Rodriguez of 34 Chappell St. was charged with assault on a public safety officer, carrying a dangerous weapon, second-degree threatening, breach of peace and third-degree criminal mischief.

He remained in custody on an unspecified bond. The crash remains under investigation.