Police hope public can ID person of interest in violent armed robbery

Fitchburg police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a person of interest in a shooting on Leopold Way that left one person with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the leg and a child injured by glass from a shot-out window.

The Fitchburg Police Department said officers responded to a report of a person shot on the 3300 block of Leopold Way at 3:05 a.m. on May 9.

Two adults and a young child had returned to the parking lot of their Leopold Way address in a vehicle when the driver was approached by a man with a handgun, according to a news release. The man attempted to go through the driver’s pockets and the driver ran off. The armed man stayed behind.

The passenger exited the vehicle and was shot in the leg by the attempted robber, police said. The shooter then drove off. While driving away, the armed man continued to fire his gun at the vehicle. One of the bullets struck the window near where the young child was seated in a car seat. The child suffered cuts to the face and eye area from the shattered glass.

The passenger and child’s injuries were non-life-threatening; the two were taken to the hospital for treatment, police said. The assailants left in an older-style black four-door vehicle similar to a Toyota Camry.

Police said one suspect was described as black, 20-23 years old, 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 170 pounds with short dreadlocks. The other suspect was described as black, approximately 6 feet tall with a medium build and wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

Officials ask anyone with information on the man or the car in the surveillance images to call the Fitchburg Police Department at 608-270-4300.