Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Bail set for Shawn Wyatt, second suspect involved in armed assault at UMass

(Robert Rigo/ Daily Collegian)
(Robert Rigo/ Daily Collegian)

Shawn Wyatt, 22, of Framingham, appeared in Eastern Hampshire District Court Tuesday for a detention hearing for his involvement with his connection to the armed assault last month in Pierpont Hall dormitory on the University of Massachusetts campus.

Wyatt’s bail was set at $15,000, which he had not posted as of Tuesday afternoon, according to the clerk’s office.

Wyatt was arraigned in Eastern Hampshire District Court on March 16 on charges of armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery.

He is a defendant in the alleged assault of a UMass student in Pierpont Hall on Feb. 18, according to a statement by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office. The first suspect, William McKeown, 19, of Framingham, turned himself in on Feb. 19 after being charged with the same crimes as Wyatt.

Wyatt appeared in Framingham District Court March 15 on a warrant related to the charges of armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery, First Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven E. Gagne said in an email to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian.

If Wyatt posts bail, he must stay away from McKeown, the victim and the entire UMass campus, according to another release from the district attorney’s office. He must also remain drug and alcohol-free with random testing, report to probation weekly and not leave the state.

Wyatt’s next court date is scheduled for April 20, according to a second statement from the office.

McKeown was arraigned on the same charges — armed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery — in Eastern Hampshire District Court on Feb. 22.

Both men are not UMass students.

McKeown was released on $7,500 cash bail on Feb. 24 and was placed under GPS monitoring and house arrest.

The alleged dangerous weapon in both cases is a BB gun. The original criminal complaint against McKeown listed a handgun as the weapon in question. The weapon was changed to a BB gun in the criminal complaint against McKeown at the request of the Commonwealth on Feb. 24.

The Commonwealth alleges Wyatt struck the victim in the head with the BB gun, not McKeown, said Gagne in the email.

The Commonwealth also alleges that McKeown and Wyatt attempted to pass off shredded vegetables as marijuana during the incident, according to the office’s second statement. An altercation ensued when the plan failed.

Patricia LeBoeuf can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @leboeuf_trisha.

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