North Carolina Man Charged In Fatal Cape Cod Shooting

MASHPEE, MA — A North Carolina man was held without bail after prosecutors said he killed a New Bedford man in a Mashpee shooting over the summer.

Christopher Strickland, 33, was charged in Barnstable Superior Court Thursday with first-degree murder, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of ammunition without a firearm identification card, discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a building, improper storage of a firearm, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit murder, the Cape Cod Times reported.

A Mashpee man was also charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of Damian Anderson, 45. Norman Dias, 32, was arraigned in Barnstable Superior Court on Feb. 22.

The shooting happened in July 2020. Police in the area of Collins Lane. Police said they found Anderson with several gunshot wounds. Emergency officials rushed Anderson to Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, where he succumbed to his injuries.

According to prosecutors, Dias and a woman were found in the woods near the scene. Police said officers found Dias with a spent shotgun shell in his pocket. Dias told police he was in the area and had an altercation with certain men, prosecutors said. Police said Dias appeared intoxicated but was later released after questioning. He was arrested the next day in Boston after police said they found probable cause linking him to the killing.

According to prosecutors, Strickland was also at the scene of the killing. Prosecutors said Dias said that Strickland was the one who shot Anderson.

Strickland was scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on April 16.