New Bedford man acted ‘paranoid’ before Marriott Hotel shooting

A New Bedford man who allegedly fired three shots at Wareham Police Officers from his hotel room at the Marriott Towne Place Suites on Friday, Aug. 23 was acting “paranoid” in the weeks leading up to the incident, according to court documents. 

On Friday evening, New Bedford resident Scott Desimas, 40, fired three shots through the door of his hotel room at Wareham Police Officers, who were following up on reports of shots fired  behind the hotel earlier in the evening. 

A combination of security camera footage and reports from hotel staff and residents identified Desimas as the possible shooter and Wareham Police knocked on the door of his room, first identifying themselves as “Marriott” then as Wareham Police.

Two bullets went through the wall across from the room into the pool area. A father and his three young children were in the pool area at the time, as well as one other hotel resident. 

No officers or hotel residents were injured, and Desimas gave himself up to police shortly after the shots rang out, according to a statement from the Wareham Police Department. 

Desimas is being charged with four counts of assault to murder with a firearm, one count of discharge of a firearm within 500 feet of a building, two counts of reckless endangerment of a child, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of possessing a firearm without a FID card.

According to a police investigation, Friday’s shooting was the culmination of weeks of erratic and paranoid behavior from Desimas. 

On Monday, Aug. 19, Desimas walked into his former employer, Kia of Dartmouth, put a knife on the counter and told employees to “finish him off and that the business was sending people after him,” according to a Dartmouth Police Department report. 

Later that day, Desimas checked into the Wareham Marriott Hotel and registered for a 31 day stay. 

Police spoke with Desimas’ girlfriend, who said he had become “increasingly paranoid over the last two weeks that someone was going to hurt him and his family.”

She told police that she and their two children, ages four and five, came to visit him at the hotel on the morning of the shooting after he had told her they were “not safe” in New Bedford, according to a police report. 

At Desimas’ request, his girlfriend brought a rifle and handgun to the hotel. The guns were hers, and she was licensed, according to police.

Hotel staff had also taken note of his behavior, with multiple employees saying he was “acting strange and it concerned them,” and that he had asked for multiple room keys throughout the day of the shooting, according to court documents. 

On Friday, a hotel employee called the police at approximately 8:03 p.m., saying that a hotel resident had reported shots coming from the cranberry bogs behind the building. 

Police spoke to the resident, who said someone matching Desimas’ description went out into the back parking lot, after which she heard two gunshots. The resident then saw the same man walk back into the building. Security footage reviewed by police confirmed that it was Desimas, though he moved out of sight of the camera before firing a gun.

Desimas’ girlfriend and their two children were in the hotel room when Wareham Police knocked on the door. She told police Desimas indicated for her and the children to go into the bathroom, and that they stayed there as he fired through the door at the officers. 

After allegedly firing at police, Desimas opened the door of his room and walked out into the hallway, at which time he was arrested without issue. 

Desimas appeared in Wareham District Court on Monday, Aug. 26. A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and he was ordered held without bail. 

Desimas’ next pre-trial hearing will take place Friday, Aug. 30 at Wareham District Court.