NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) — Police have arrested an 18-year-old man accused of shooting an undercover detective in the face outside of a New Bedford pizza shop last summer, according to Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn.

 

Denzel Gomes, 18, was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon shortly after his flight from Portugal landed at Logan International Airport.

 

Gomes, formerly of New Bedford, is facing a number of charges, including armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a firearm.

 

Detectives believe Gomes shot and wounded New Bedford Police Detective Lavar Gilbert last July as he was sitting in an unmarked cruiser parked near the intersection of Rivet and Orchard Streets.

 

Gilbert, a 17-year veteran assigned to the Organized Crime Intelligence Bureau, was hit in the face by a bullet that shattered his driver’s side window. He drove himself to St. Luke’s Hospital after what New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell described as an “extremely close call.”

 

Investigators believe Gilbert was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was likely not Gomes’ intended target.

 

Read more at wpri.com.