Bullet holes found in hair salon result in arrest

Suspect claims licensed firearm was accidentally discharged

LOWELL >> An investigation by police into bullet holes discovered in the walls of a hair salon in the Acre neighborhood earlier this month resulted in firearm charges for a Lawrence man.

Eric Rosario, 25, told detectives the single bullet that traveled through the walls of the salon was accidentally discharged from a legally-owned firearm he was handling inside a neighboring apartment, according to a Lowell Police incident report.

Police were first called to the hair salon in the 600 block of Merrimack Street on March 6 after a co-owner of the salon noticed what appeared to be bullet holes in walls that had not been there previously.

A bullet appeared to have entered through the exterior wall and then traveled through two interior walls, according to police. The hole to the exterior wall was adjacent to a rear apartment located on Cabot Street, which police said appeared to have a bullet hole in a window, possibly fired from inside the apartment.

First responders conducted a welfare check of the apartment after the tenant allowed them inside. Police said no one was injured, but the bullet hole in the apartment’s window was confirmed.

The tenant, a 22-yearold woman, told police she was previously unaware of the damage to the window.

According to the incident report, detectives with the Lowell Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Bureau talked to the tenant’s boyfriend, Rosario, who claimed he had been at the apartment with a friend the night before. The friend brought a .40-caliber handgun, which he showed to Rosario.

Rosario told detectives his friend has an active license to carry the weapon.

Rosario explained, according to police, “while handing the gun ‘it just went off’ indicating that the gun discharged and fired a bullet.” Stunned by what happened, the pair then left the apartment.

Rosario’s girlfriend was not home at the time.

Rosario told police he would attempt to get his friend to corroborate his version of events. However, when Rosario was contacted by detectives later, he said his friend did not wish to speak with police, and the pair made the decision to “lawyer up.”

According to the incident report, Rosario is ineligible to possess a firearm due to his criminal history, which includes a firearm conviction in 2019.

Rosario was arraigned Wednesday in Lowell District

Court by Judge John Coffey on the charges of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, and possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card. He was released on his own recognizance under the condition he not possess any dangerous weapons.

Rosario is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on May 30.

His attorney, Socrates De La Cruz, declined to comment about the case.

Follow Aaron Curtis on X, formerly known as Twitter, @aselahcurtis