Lawrence, Mass - Marine of the Year opens fire on crowd

[MH1]

Police: Decorated Marine opened fire on noisy crowd

August 14, 2005

LAWRENCE, Mass. --A man who was named "Marine of the Year" last month for his service in Iraq injured two people when he fired a shotgun from his apartment window at a group of revelers leaving a night club, police said.

A 15-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man were injured by bullet fragments when Daniel Cotnoir, 33, of Lawrence, allegedly fired a bullet at the crowd outside his second-floor apartment early Saturday.

Minutes before the shooting, Cotnoir called police to complain about the noise coming from the street around 2:50 a.m., The Lawrence Eagle-Tribune reported.

Cotnoir, whose wife and two daughters were home at the time of the shooting, later told police he feared for his family's safety because someone threw an empty juice bottle through his bedroom window.

Cotnoir was arrested and held on $100,000 bail. He was to be arraigned Monday in Lawrence District Court on attempted murder charges.

....

Kerry honored Cotnoir and others in his office on 7/14/05:

http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=240660

SENATOR KERRY HONORS MARINE OF THE YEAR: SERGEANT DANIEL B. COTNOIR OF LAWRENCE, MA, AND COAST GUARDSMAN OF THE YEAR: AVIATION MAINTENANCE TECH 3rd CLASS GREGORY A. GIBBONS OF CHELMSFORD

WASHINGTON, DC- Today, Senator Kerry honored the five winners of the fifth annual Military Times Awards at his office in Washington -- two of which are from Massachusetts.

Marine Corps Times Marine of the Year, Sergeant Daniel B. Cotnoir, is from Lawrence. Navy Times Coastguardsman of the Year, Aviation Maintenance Tech 3rd Class Gregory A. Gibbons, calls Chelmsford home. Both very accomplished men were recognized as community role models and awarded for their courageous acts of service.

....

[JI7]

1. medical help

the guys needs medical help. i would bet much of his problem is rooted in his war experience.

[MH1]

5. He had been getting counseling,

that was mentioned in the article. Not sure if it was still going on when this incident occurred.

[TayTay]

2. What a tragedy this is

Lawrence, MA is a very poor city in Northeast MA. (About 15-20 mile from my home.) There have been a number of drive-by shootings there in the past few months and a number of young people have been killed. It is a high-crime area and I am not really surprised this incident took place here. (If it wasn't for the 'Marine of the Year' label, it might just be another night in Lawrence and never made the paper.)

I get my hair cut by a woman who recently left Lawrence and moved to Manchester, NH. (Why on earth would I be interested in getting to know people in NH? Geez, I wonder.) Anyway, there is a burgeoning number of immigrants from Caribbean and Central American countries who have moved to Lawrence and then to Manchester, NH. The woman I know moved out of Lawrence because she has 5 kids and wanted them to know a little safety and not fear being killed or hurt in a shooting. (Am trying to wrangle an invite to some festivals up in good old Manchester, NH. It never hurts to meet new people, hang out at festivals, try new food and find out if voters are registered. Really, the food is great.)

[kerrygoddess]

7. Do you remember the riots on Tower Hill?

Was it the late 70's or very early 80's? I know I was bartending on Salisbury beach and had come home and turned the TV on thought "oh my riots in Watts again" only to find out it was Tower Hill in Lawrence.

Very sad story about this Marine.

[TayTay]

8. Not specifically, but I'm not surprised.

Lawrence has never bounced back from the loss of the good manufacturing jobs and never attracted any high tech industry during the boom years. The current Mayor is a good man, I believe he is a naturalized citizen originally from the Domican Republic (but I could be wrong) and he announced his first priority to be making the city safe. I wish him luck, the attention of the MA Congressional delegation (Meehan, Kennedy and Kerry) and some friggin financial support from that no-good Gov of ours. Sigh! As if Romney cares about what happens to poor people of if their children live or die.

[rox63]

3. This is close to me as well

I also live about 10-15 miles from Lawrence, in another old mill town down the river from Lawrence. The article at the link below is from the local newspaper for Lawrence, the Eagle-Tribune. It may be significant that this guy was a military mortician in Iraq. His job was preparing the remains of dead soldiers to be shipped home to their families. I can't imagine the sort of horrors he saw on a daily basis, and what that might have done to him mentally and emotionally.

http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/15/etstory.pl?-sec-News+fn-fn-marine.0814-20050814-fn+page_0

[TayTay]

4. There was an excellent article about this unit

in an issue of The New Yorker last year. The dead are treated with great reverence and the people who serve in this unit called Mortuary Affairs or 92M are very dedicated people. And you are right, they see a lot.

http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/040809fa_fact1

I know this is a tough subject, but this is what we are paying for in Iraq. This is part of what actually goes on over there and it is an informative and well-written article that deals with a difficult aspect of a nation at war.

[FreedomAngel82]

6. How awful

That's something I worry about. How are the troops going to be once we do bring them home? Will they be able to get the help they need? Bush is cutting VA's in his 2006 budget. :\

[kerrygoddess]

9. Marine pleads not quilty

At a Monday court hearing Cotnoir pleaded not guilty to two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and one count of illegally discharging a firearm, his lawyer, Robert Kelley, said.

He is being held without bail for 20 days at Bridgewater State Hospital where he will undergo psychiatric tests to see if he is fit to stand trial, Kelley said.

Cotnoir felt threatened by the crowd after a bottle thrown from below crashed through his closed window and cut him in the finger, Kelley said.

To protect himself, his wife and children, Cotnoir fired a warning shot into what he thought was a safe area but the bullet ricocheted off cement and fragments hit two people, Kelley said.

The veteran was recently voted Marine of the Year 2005 by the Marine Corps Times for being an "'everyday hero' who exemplifies outstanding professionalism, concern for other service members and community service."

In an interview with a local newspaper, Cotnoir described collecting bloodied body parts of dead soldiers after blasts in Iraq and said he had sought counseling at a veterans hospital after returning home because his war-time job took a heavy psychological toll on him.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050815/us_nm/crime_marine_dc;_ylt=AufooESE2FM7HWy96k_opE5vzwcF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

I hope JK steps up for him. This is so heartbreaking.

I posted a thread on DemDaily.