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Police: Sex offender shot pregnant girlfriend

A man accused of shooting his pregnant girlfriend and threatening to kill himself in a tavern parking lot while holding his child in his arms was arraigned Tuesday.
/ Source: The Associated Press

A man accused of shooting his pregnant girlfriend and threatening to kill himself in a tavern parking lot while holding his child in his arms was arraigned Tuesday on attempted murder and other charges.

Alfredo Ferrer, 43, sobbed but said nothing else during his arraignment in Rockville Superior Court. He did not enter a plea and will return to court April 25. His public defender declined to comment.

Witnesses said Monday's ordeal at Bidwell Tavern in the eastern Connecticut town of Coventry began when a bloody Ferrer showed up just before 6 p.m. and tried to use the phone. Terrified patrons were herded into a basement and the doors were locked once Ferrer left.

Court officials said Ferrer had worked as a dishwasher at the tavern for several years.

Police said when officers arrived, they found Ferrer in the parking lot, armed with a handgun and carrying a child. He told officers he was going to shoot himself, police said.

Police said that as they negotiated to get Ferrer to release the child, they learned he had shot and wounded Amanda Realie, 27, in their apartment.

Record of criminal history
Officers eventually subdued Ferrer with a stun gun, and the child was taken to a hospital but appeared to be unharmed, police said. Police declined to release the child's age or gender. In court, officials said Ferrer had two children with Realie.

She was airlifted to a hospital, where she was listed in critical condition Tuesday.

Judge Carl Schuman ordered Ferrer held on $1.25 million bond, citing his criminal record.

Court officials said he was convicted in the 1980s of sexually assaulting a minor, then escaped from prison in 1991 and remained a fugitive until he was arrested on charges of marijuana possession in New York in 2002.