NIAGARA FALLS — An 18-year-old Ferry Avenue man turned himself in this morning on charges of first-degree assault in connection with the shooting of a 20-year-old city man on Pine Avenue near 30th Street on Saturday.

The shooting followed an incident involving five men and continues the mounting problems

with gang-related fighting in the city, said Capt. William M. Thomson, chief of detectives. He

said the victim was barely cooperative and the suspect had been questioned as a witness in a

recent homicide, although the two cases are unrelated.

The suspect, Howard Welch, also faces charges of first-degree reckless endangerment and

criminal use of a firearm. He pleaded not guilty and bail was set in City Court at $100,000.

The victim, who was reported fully alert at the scene, was shot in the buttocks with a

handgun just after 11:30 a.m. and taken to Erie County Medical Center with non-life

threatening injuries. The shooting occurred after a fight broke out in a store and then moved

outside into the alley, according to Thomson.

"I'm hoping to formulate a plan to fight the increasing violence," Superintendent John R.

Chella said of the ongoing shootings in the city.

Map: Pine Avenue near 30th Street, Niagara Falls

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