Axe-wielding New Bedford man arrested for attack on Swifts Beach

A New Bedford man was arraigned in Wareham District Court on Monday, Sept. 21 after reports he repeatedly struck his girlfriend and ran after a bystander Saturday, Sept. 19, after chasing others with an axe earlier that morning. 

Wareham Police responded to reports of a man “acting erratically” and chasing bystanders with an axe in the morning on Sept. 19, off of Interstate 195 in Wareham but were unable to find him. Half an hour later, police located and arrested Shawn Michael Ferguson, 46, of New Bedford for attacking his 37-year-old girlfriend and another woman at Swifts Beach.

Ferguson faces four charges: assault and battery on a family/household member, assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. He will be held without bail until his hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 23. 

Instead of incarceration, Ferguson’s attorney Stephen Dodd asked the judge for a mental health evaluation and proposed treatment with probation, as the police report said Ferguson is a diagnosed schizophrenic.

According to the police report, Ferguson was “acting erratically” and “chasing bystanders with an axe” at approximately 8:32 a.m. at the Wareham Rest Area boat ramp off of Interstate 195. After this incident, a witness, Kathleen Fredericksen, reported seeing Ferguson punching his girlfriend, Amanda Veara, in the vehicle on Swifts Beach Road.

Fredericksen said the car’s alarm was continuously going off, and she shouted at Ferguson, after which he ran away from the vehicle onto the beach. He ran toward another woman in the area, Laura Scirocco, and chased her into the water.

Scirocco told the police that Ferguson charged at her, “swearing and not making much sense.” She believed he was going to hit her and ran into the water to avoid him.

Police arrived at the scene after this incident, when Ferguson began to flee. He was arrested and transported to the police department, during which he was “highly uncooperative, screaming and not making much sense,” according to the police report.

Veara, who was found in the vehicle after Ferguson’s arrest, had fresh blood on her face and fresh injuries to her palms, hands and face, the report said. She said she tried to protect herself from Ferguson’s strikes. She said he hit her with his fists and no other objects and that a physical altercation had taken place at the boat ramp.

Veara and Ferguson were homeless, she told the police, and had been living out of the vehicle. 

She was transported to Tobey Hospital, where her injuries were cleaned and became more visible. She had bruising on the right side of her face and a cut on the cheekbone and forehead, the report indicated. She also had a split and swollen lip and bruising along the neckline consistent with being choked, according to the report.