Gunfight on Baldwin Street started as argument between rivals

LACONIA — Two people charged with engaging in a gunfight in a densely-populated neighborhood in November were rivals who got into a verbal argument before guns were drawn, according to affidavits filed in Belknap Superior Court.

The two, Walter Alexis, 36, and Sherlon McKnight, 38, both reside in Laconia and both have been charged with multiple felonies as a result of the incident, which allegedly occurred on Nov. 30. They are each facing counts of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, falsifying physical evidence, being a felon in possession of a weapon and attempted first degree assault with a firearm. Additionally, Alexis has been charged with being an armed career criminal.

Alexis and McKnight are next due in court on Feb. 23.

The affidavits, filed by Laconia Police Det. Eric Benoit to establish probable cause for the arrest of the two men, describe the findings of a police investigation into the incident.

Shortly after 3 p.m. on Nov. 30, police received two calls, one about a disturbance involving firearms that was said to take place at the corner of Baldwin and Joliet streets, and another, allegedly from Alexis, reporting the windows of his wife’s car had been shot out.

The affidavits included reports from witnesses as well as accounts from both Alexis and McKnight.

One witness, who watched the events unfold from a nearby window, is described in the affidavits as telling police they heard an argument on the street, and saw a male in a green pickup wearing a brown hat. The witness heard the male in the truck yell, “I’ve got something for you,” then display a gun out the window before driving away. The witness then saw the truck return, heard the sound of gunshots, then the truck driving off.

Later that same evening, Benoit recounts in the affidavits, McKnight called police and said he was the pickup truck driver who had been shot at on Baldwin Street. According to the affidavits, McKnight told police he has “a history” with Alexis, was driving past Alexis’ residence and saw him outside of his home. McKnight said Alexis “flipped him off” and they began arguing. McKnight thought they were going to fight, but instead Alexis went into his home.

McKnight apparently got back into his truck and drove off, but decided to circle back and drive past Alexis’ home again. This time, according to the affidavits, McKnight said his windshield was struck by a bullet as soon as he turned onto Baldwin. McKnight noticed that Alexis’ door was ajar, and Alexis was laying in a prone position. McKnight allegedly told police he then grabbed his handgun and fired two shots as he sped away; he said he didn’t know where his rounds struck.

Investigating officers located a shell casing in the roadway consistent with the caliber of a weapon later found at McKnight’s home, and an unspent round of a different caliber.

A bullet was found lodged in the door of a car parked near Alexis’ home, and another round was recovered from an ottoman on Alexis’s porch.

The affidavits state that when McKnight was asked by police if he acted in self-defense, he allegedly answered “yes.”

A search of Alexis’ home recovered a plastic gun case that contained two Ruger magazine baseplates. On the porch, police allege they found a magazine for a .22 caliber firearm. The shell casings matched the unspent cartridge found outside the home. No firearm was collected from the home.

Alexis’ criminal history includes prior felony convictions for first degree assault, criminal threatening and second degree assault, all in 2011 and 2012. McKnight was convicted of felony robbery in New Jersey in 2009.

Attorneys for McKnight and Alexis did not respond to requests for comment.