Man shot and killed in central Plymouth after ‘minor traffic incident’

A “beautiful fall evening” in downtown Plymouth was marred by what witnesses described as “three to four gunshots” in a downtown parking lot, leaving one local man dead and another arrested and charged with murder.

David Jerome, 23, of Plymouth was arrested Friday evening and charged in connection with the shooting, which happened around 5:45 p.m. in a Middle Street parking lot surrounded by bars and restaurants. He was charged with murder and several weapons charges, as well as reckless endangerment as a child, as he had his 18-month-old son with him when the violence subsided.

He will be arraigned at Plymouth District Court on Monday morning.

Jerome is accused of fatally shooting Brent Berkley, 41, of Plymouth, after what the preliminary investigation initially indicates was a minor traffic incident, followed by an altercation between the two men and then the shooting. Jerome had a legal permit to carry before it was suspended following his arrest, indicating he had no criminal record since having an LTC.

All that says Plymouth District Attorney Tim Cruz, who held a press conference this afternoon at the Plymouth Police Department building to lay out the details of how the “beautiful night in downtown Plymouth, the beautiful fall night… suddenly became so was. destroyed.”

Cruz said the investigation is still in its early stages, so he wouldn’t commit to specific details as investigators were still trying to corroborate eyewitness accounts. He said Berkley was driving a Jeep SUV and Jerome was driving a Toyota Rav4 and “were involved in a minor traffic incident and a physical altercation ensued between the two before the shooting occurred.”

Cruz said people need to be extra careful not to “blow things out of proportion.”

“I just think we live in a world now where a lot of people have short fuses and terrible things happen very quickly, they escalate very quickly,” Cruz said. “Look at the aftermath, look at how one family has lost someone forever, another family will have to deal with significant issues. It affects the community.

“Plymouth is the birthplace of America for a reason because it’s a beautiful area and people really care for it and, I think, respect it,” he added. “Last night was a beautiful evening and then all of a sudden it was destroyed in the center of Plymouth.”