WINTHROP – A Winthrop man was arraigned Tuesday on charges that he menaced people with a “realistic-looking” replica assault rifle during preparations for the town’s 4th of July parade.
Gregory Gill, 23, appeared in Boston Municipal Court on two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.
A judge released Gill on $500 bail and ordered him to remain under home confinement. Gill must also submit to GPS monitoring and follow other stipulations.
Prosecutors said that while parade preparations were underway on Saturday, Gill sat on top of a military vehicle that was in a parking lot on Revere Street. Gill allegedly pointed the republic assault weapon at passing cars.
Two people that were in one of the vehicles said that as they passed, Gill pointed the gun and said loud enough for them to hear “Head shot, boom.”
After the incident, the victims flagged down a Winthrop police officer to report what prosecutors called a “terrifying incident.” Police found the replica gun in the military vehicle and arrested Gill.
The incident came days before a mass shooting at a 4th of July parade in Illinois that left seven people dead and dozens more injured.
“We just witnessed six people slaughtered as they attended a July 4th parade outside Chicago. At this national moment in America, one can only begin to fathom the terror of seeing an apparent assault weapon pointed at you,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “This incident reminds us that a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands can change lives and communities in an instant. This man’s victims had no reason to believe that the gun trained on them was anything short of the real thing. My office is treating these acts with the seriousness they deserve.”
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