Renee Nogueira went into the CVS Pharmacy on Thursday afternoon to cool down after she started laundry next door. The Brockton Enterprise reported that she had been deciding which cereal to buy when three men entered the Central Street store and began arguing with a customer.
Nogueira, 47, of Taunton told The Enterprise , "I heard a couple of men arguing, they said something about it being hot and stepping outside and then I heard a couple of pops and I assumed they were gunshots. The first was louder, like a firecracker, then there was a second shot."
She peaked her head around the corner and saw a man holding the upper part of his right shoulder. Three men then fled the store.
According to interim Police Chief Donna McNamara the victim, an 18 years old man, was shot in the shoulder, but suffered a non-life-threatening injury. He was taken by a Stoughton ambulance to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton.
The three men, one of whom was the shooter, took off on foot out of the CVS, running toward the Walgreens across the street. Police have started searching the area for a tan sedan expected to be driven by the assailants.
Officers scoured the neighborhood with their guns drawn and a state police dog searched surrounding neighborhoods, to track the direction of travel.
The store had been closed for hours , yellow and red police caution tape blocked the entrance, but prescriptions were still filled at the drive-through window. Office staff declined to comment outside the store and asked employees not to talk to reporters.
Nearby, sports and band activities at Stoughton High School and the O'Donnell Middle School were put into lockdown as a precaution during the search. The students were later released to parents, but all after-school activities were cancelled.
By Prakriti Neogi
