It was a successful weekend for the State Police K-9 units, as the dogs recovered crucial evidence and located a suspect in a deadly shooting in Framingham.
In the Framingham case, police responded to Hollis Street for a report of a shooting at about 1:45 a.m. Saturday, the Middlesex district attorney’s office said. Two male victims were taken to nearby hospitals with gunshot wounds, and one of the men, Shawn White, 20, of Framingham, died, District Attorney Marian T. Ryan’s office said.
The second victim, 21, was treated and released from UMass Memorial Medical Center for a gunshot wound to the chest, Ryan’s office said.
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At about 2 a.m., local police requested K-9 assistance from State Police, and the dogs conducted a building search and located an 18-year-old suspect.
During the search, one of the dogs alerted authorities to a room where the suspect was hiding, State Police said. The dog continued searching and located a handgun.
“The dog found a fresh human odor on what we believe is the murder weapon,” State Police Lieutenant Joseph King said. “That evidence would be hard to find without a dog.”
The suspect, Christian Castro-Lainez of Worcester, was arraigned Monday in Framingham District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, armed assault with intent to murder, and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm. He was held without bail, pending a status hearing Aug. 16.
His girlfriend, Margaret Desrosiers, 17, of Framingham, was also arraigned. She pleaded not guilty to charges of being an accessory after the fact to murder and was held on $1 million bail, according to Ryan’s office.
The shootings occurred when White and the other victim went to a residence on Hollis Street to see Desrosiers, Ryan’s office said. There was an interaction between the victims and Desrosiers, at which point Castro-Lainez came out to the street and a fight broke out, Ryan’s office said.
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The K-9 units assisted in two other successful searches for suspects over the weekend. “This was not an exceptional weekend volumewise, but this was a good weekend in what the K-9s found,” King said.
A K-9 unit responded to an armed robbery Saturday by three suspects in Randolph, and the dogs found one of the suspects, State Police said. One of the dogs also located a knife and baseball bat used in the robbery, State Police said.
In another case, a suspect in Weymouth was tracked down Friday by a dog after the suspect fled on foot after allegedly robbing a bank. The dog led officers to a townhouse complex, where officers conducted an interior search that located the suspect, State Police said.
State Police have 41 K-9 units statewide that assist local police in searches for suspects and evidence. The State Police employ German shepherds, Belgian Malinois, and rottweilers. “The K-9 units are doing great things every day in assisting the towns of the Commonwealth,” said State Trooper Dustin Fitch.
Jasper Craven can be reached at jasper.craven@globe.com.