A second city man has been arrested in connection with stabbings earlier this month in Haverhill’s Lafayette Square. (Jay Saulnier file photograph for WHAV News)
Haverhill Police Thursday arrested a second man in connection with the July 13 stabbings in the city’s Lafayette Square neighborhood.
Gilbert Vasquez, of 11 High St., was taken into custody at 12:40 p.m. by Det. James Cotreau on a warrant related to the incident, which left a Methuen man and a Nashua, N.H., man with serious injuries. Arrested at 100 Salem St., Vasquez now faces an assault to murder charge.
The 22-year-old Vasquez is also charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery with subsequent bodily injury, among several other charges, police said.
Thursday’s arrest is the second made by police in connection with the stabbings. On July 17, Gilbert’s older brother, Jose Vasquez, was taken into custody on warrant-related charges tied to the incident.
As WHAV previously reported, police were initially called to the area of 117 Lafayette Square for a report of a possible overdose, arriving on scene to find two men suffering from stab wounds in the adjacent alleyway. According to a witness statement given to police, the Vasquez brothers “had beef” with the Methuen man, resulting in the stabbing.
In sworn affidavits obtained by WHAV, Haverhill Police have acknowledged the presence of “gang members living at 11 High St. (on the) 2nd floor.”
WHAV was first to report that a third Vasquez brother, 18-year-old Rony Vasquez, sought retaliation for the May murder of his friend Nike Colon by allegedly shooting a rival gang member on the city’s Fifth Avenue.
Police said Rony Vasquez was “actively looking purchase or locate more firearms” in an effort to send a message to those said to be responsible for Colon’s death. The victim in the June 15 Fifth Avenue shooting, a 21-year-old Haverhill man, is a close friend of Colon’s alleged killer Eddy Almonte, according to police.