New Bedford man sentenced to prison in Fall River Superior Court after man shot, apartment with family present fired into

A local man has been sentenced in Fall River Superior Court after pleading guilty to a multitude of charges.

According to police, at 10:00 p.m. on December 22nd, 2023, Taunton Police responded to a home on Newcomb Place after 911 dispatchers received a call from a cellphone around that location with a person screaming on the line. As two police officers arrived at a multi-unit house, dispatchers informed them that they had received reports of a firearm involved in an ongoing disturbance. Additional backup units were dispatched to the scene.

Officers announced their presence outside the home in question and a woman answered the door and allowed the officers to enter a second-floor apartment. Inside, they found two men struggling on the ground, with one man on top of the other. Noting the report of the presence of a firearm and fearing for their own safety and the safety of those around them, the officers unholstered their firearms and pointed them at the two men, ordering them to cease their struggle on the ground.

The men complied, and officers immediately noted that one of the two was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the leg. The officers called for an emergency medical response.

The suspect, identified as then 22-year-old Joshua Manuel Deleon of New Bedford, was also injured, suffering head trauma and other injuries during the altercation. A firearm was found near his person, and officers noted that he was wearing body armor. Officers later found two additional firearms as well as three bullet casings from the floor.

Police noted that, based on apparent bullet holes, an apartment above, on the third floor, may have been fired into during the struggle. Officers met with a woman who lives on the third floor and ascertained that she — and her four children inside the apartment — were frightened but not injured.

Deleon was transported to a local hospital before being transferred by medical helicopter to a Boston Hospital, where he was treated, in police custody, for serious injuries sustained in the altercation. The other male, who was shot, was taken to a different hospital where he was treated and recovered.

The two men are known to each other, and the incident was not a random act of violence.

Deleon was arrested and charged with Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, Assault and Battery, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon, Armed Assault with Intent to Murder, Possession of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony, Home Invasion, Possession of Ammunition without a FID Card, Use of Body Armor in the Commission of a Felony, Possession of a Firearm with a Defaced Serial Number, and Discharge of a Firearm within 500 Feet of a Dwelling.

Delon was later indicted in Fall River Superior Court.

According to court records, on Wednesday morning, Delon pled guilty to Home Invasion, Carrying a Firearm Without a License, Use of Body Armor in the Commission of a Felony, Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, Assault and Battery with a Firearm, Intimidation of a Witness/Juror/Police/Court Official, Assault in Dwelling-Firearm-Armed and was sentenced to not less than 7 years to not more than 10 years in State Prison.