Armed robber sentenced after shooting clerk in Attleboro

ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WLNE) — A woman who shot a clerk during an attempted robbery at an Attleboro gas station in 2019 was sentenced to prison last week.

The Bristol County District Attorney’s Office said 33-year-old Ashley Weaver of Allston was sentenced in Fall River Superior Court to serve five to seven years in state prison.

Officials said the shooting occurred the Mobil gas station on Newport Avenue at 2:30 a.m. on May 20, 2019.

The victim told police that he was taking out the trash when a person wearing a gorilla mask approached him showing a gun and demanding money.

The clerk said he did not believe that the gun was real and chased after the suspect, putting him in a headlock before hearing a loud bang and feeling a pain in his stomach, according to authorities.

Responding officers said the clerk came out of the store and told the police he had been shot, lifting his shirt and revealing a gunshot wound to his stomach.

He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital where he had surgery and spent several days in recovery, per officials.

“I am very happy the clerk recovered,” District Attorney Thomas Quinn said. “But this is another example of why you do not take matters into your own hands.”

The Attleboro Police Department was tipped several days after the shooting that Weaver was the suspect responsible for the shooting.

Police showed the victim photos of several individuals, and they immediately identified Weaver as the person who shot him.

Weaver was eventually arrested in Rhode Island, where officials said she violently resisted while in possession of a firearm.

The District Attorney’s Office said she pleaded guilty to indictments charging her with carrying an illegal firearm, armed assault with intent to rob and assault and battery.