Main St. shooting suspect officially charged with gun crime

A federal grand jury has handed up an indictment against a man suspected of shooting and injuring an innocent bystander outside of Nectar's in late February.

Rashad Nashid, 37, has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, specifically a Ruger LCP .380 pistol, according to the indictment. Nashid's lawyer, Steven Barth, declined comment on the indictment via email on Thursday.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, no arraignment hearing has yet been scheduled for Nashid.

Federal Magistrate Judge John Conroy found probable cause existed in Nashid's case following a hearing earlier this month.

Court papers show that Nashid fired his gun into the crowd outside Nectar's at bar closing time. Nashid was arrested on Feb. 26, and he was ordered detained after his initial appearance in U.S. District Court.

More: Burlington shooting suspect jailed after federal court hearing

One bullet hit Chelsi Parker, 26, of Essex Junction, who had been at Nectar's that night. Police said Parker was hit in the lung. Parker's mother Cindy Parker Belisle of South Burlington said Parker was discharged from the University of Vermont Medical Center on Sunday.

"She's doing better," Belisle said Thursday. "We're still watching for a fever and infections."

Another bullet went through the window of an apartment above Manhattan's Pizza on Main Street, Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo confirmed this week. No one was injured from that bullet.

A fundraiser through GoFundMe.com for Parker has exceeded a $10,000 goal by collecting more than $12,000 since the shooting. The fundraiser, started by Parker's grandmother, is meant to help cover Parker's medical expenses.

Nashid was arrested minutes after the shooting when confronted by a Burlington police officer on South Winooski Avenue. Nashid, who had been drinking, later told police that he had been approached by a man who pulled out a gun, according to the complaint. He said he recognized the man from a previous altercation that occurred about a year earlier, but he did not know the man's name.

"(Nashid) did not want to get shot and therefore he pulled out his own gun and shot it to make the other male 'back down,'" the complaint states.

Nashid also told police he did not intend to shoot anyone and was sorry he shot the victim.

Police said Nashid was free on conditions pending trial on a September 2017 state charge of felony narcotics possession. Nashid has been convicted of at least seven felonies, most of which stem from New Jersey, and he is prohibited from possessing a firearm, police said.

Belisle said she was pleased to hear about the indictment Thursday.

"It should have been done a long time ago," Belisle said. "He should not have been released to begin with."

If convicted of the firearms charge, Nashid faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $1 million. Nashid is being jailed at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans Town.

Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizMurrayBFP.