‘Parents were shook’: Woman accused of pointing BB gun at crowd of people in Wakefield arraigned

WAKEFIELD, Mass. — A woman accused of pointing a BB gun at a crowd of people gathered at a “Porchfest” event in Wakefield over the weekend faced a judge on Monday.

Brigid Macdonough, 42, was arraigned in Malden District Court on a charge of assault using a dangerous weapon and disturbing the peace, according to the Wakefield Police Department.

It wasn’t until late afternoon that a judge decided Macdonough should be held without bail — but she did leave open the possibility the suspect could be freed.

Macdonough reportedly had a weapon sticking out of her car window while driving a gray Subaru through a crowd in the town’s Greenwood section on Saturday afternoon, police said.

The prosecutor said Macdonough was on probation out of Lynn for a 2023 incident when she drove her car into the deck of her boyfriend’s house after they argued. On Saturday, it is alleged that before arriving in Wakefield, Macdonough, after another argument with her boyfriend, drove her car into his.

Parents and children were lined up on Greenwood Avenue when they saw the car speed by a few times. One man tried telling the woman she could have hurt someone.

Witnesses told the police that the woman pulled out what looked like a Red Ryder BB gun and pointed it at the crowd as she drove by. Some families had to leave because of how upset they were, calling it a deeply disturbing situation.

“You could see some parents were visibly shook from the moment,” one dad recalled. “My kids are 7 and 6, so they were crying. They were like, ‘Why is a woman pointing a gun at us?’”

Brandon Volkenant, of Wakefield, also commented, “Not only was her driving really dangerous but then this type of aggressive threatening behavior. Parents had had enough.”

Wakefield police said they were able to find and arrest the woman in just a few hours. In an update on Monday, police said, “A relative of the suspect voluntarily turned over the gun. It was indeed a BB gun.”

In arguing for no bail, the prosecutor pointed out these two incidents as examples of Macdonough’s lack of control over her anger. The judge eventually ordered Macdonough held without bail on the probation violation. But if she is not held in Lynn, Macdonough could go free with a GPS monitor.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Wakefield Police Department at 781-245-1212.

An investigation is ongoing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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