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LAWRENCE — Taylor Harrington told police he didn't know the stranger who shot him at the commuter rail station on Merrimack Street last night.
But a preliminary inspection of video tape from a security surveillance camera appears to contradict the victim's story, Lawrence Police Chief John Romero said last night.
"Based on what we've viewed of the video, the actions of the two people don't appear consistent with two people who don't know each other," Romero said in an interview.
"Apparently, these individuals knew each other. It looked like on the tape they shook hands and walked down the train platform together. We have a lot more questions than answers. We're not quite sure what to make of anything at this point," he said.
Harrington, 25, of East Boston suffered what appeared to be a shotgun wound to his left leg below the knee while on the passenger loading platform at Lawrence Station about 6:30 last night.
Harrington, who police said took a taxi cab to the train station from his job in Andover, was treated last night at Lawrence General Hospital for what Romero described as "a non-life threatening wound."
Trains arriving at the station were held up for about a half-hour last night as a state police canine unit searched the tracks for the man who fled the scene of the shooting in the direction of North Andover. Police from that town joined in the search, along with Lawrence police.
But police were unable to locate the suspect, described as a white male, 5 feet 11 inches tall with a medium to heavyset build. Witnesses said he was wearing a white T-shirt, blue and white fitted hat and carrying a blue duffel bag. Train service was allowed to resume by 6:55 p.m.
Police received a reported sighting of a man wielding a shotgun in the vicinity of the Bradford apartments less than two hours after the shooting, but were unable to confirm it.
"We got a victim here telling us he doesn't know the perpetrator. but it does appear that they knew each from what we saw on the video," Romero said.
"The video raises a number of contradictions in the victim's account of what happened. So, we'll be re-interviewing the victim and will try to enhance the video. And that may help us identify the suspect," Romero said.
Police received a 911 emergency call at 6:26 p.m. of a man shot on a platform at the train station on Merrimack Street. Patrol officers arrived soon after at the station at the intersection of S. Union and Merrimack streets. There, they found Harrington on a passenger bench, bleeding from a gaping wound in his left leg below the knee and screaming for help, according to police.
Romero said Harrington told detectives at the hospital that he was approached by a man he had never seen before. The stranger told Harrington he had something he wanted to show him and the two men walked away from people toward the end of the platform.
"At that point, the victim said the man opened the bag to show him something," Romero said.
"The victim saw a white towel in the bag and the stranger was rummaging through the bag, and the next point he noticed a pain in his leg and was shot. He said he never saw the gun. And he claims it might have been an accident," the chief said.
But the videotape turned over by officials at the train station weakened Harrington's version of the incident, according to Romero.
"It appeared that the victim approached the stranger, they shook hands and they were conversing. Then, the victim carried the individuals bag to the end of the platform," Romero said.
Police said they found remnants of what appeared to be a shotgun shell in the area on the platform where the shooting occurred.
Detectives interviewed a number of witnesses who were on the platform last night.
Tyanna Preston, 36, of Lawrence, a parking attendant who works for Star Parking, a private vendor at the train station, said she heard the shot fired about 10 minutes after the arrival of the 6:12 train from Boston and a few minutes before the 6:34 train.
"I thought it was a firecracker," Preston said in an interview
"Right after the shot went off, I looked out from my booth and saw two men over there together. They were both standing, but kind of bent over. Then, the guy in the white T-shirt — the one that did it — took off, running straight down the platform (toward North Andover). And I saw the other man limping toward the bench," Preston said
