Portsmouth Man Arrested On Gun, Child Endangerment Charges

PORTSMOUTH, NH — A shots fired call on Ledgewood Drive on Tuesday turned into a criminal threatening case on Wednesday with the arrest of a man accused of reckless conduct with a handgun.

At just before midnight, police were sent to an apartment building for gunfire. They met with a man who stated a woman and children were inside an apartment when he accused Samuel So, 39, of Ledgewood Drive in Portsmouth of threatening him and the woman with a handgun.

Police set up a perimeter around the building and requested So come out, unarmed, to talk with officers, according to an affidavit. He complied and taken into custody.

Officers processed the scene and found two rounds shot from a gun with the rounds going through a window. They also spoke with witnesses. One claimed So was "screaming, yelling, and throwing objects around the apartment," demanding the man leave, stating, "I want to kill him" and "I want him out," the report said. After shutting off the television and going into another room, So was accused of arguing with a woman and punching a hole in the wall, the affidavit said.

About five or seven minutes later, So exited the room, armed with a handgun, the affidavit said, and he walked toward the man, raising the gun at him.

"Get out," the affidavit claimed So said to the man.

"I could look down the barrel of the gun," the man told police, "while it was pointed at me."

The witness said he froze and felt in fear for his life, due to So's past violent nature, the report said. So, the affidavit said, pointed the gun toward a window, and fired it. The man began to leave the area, while the children were screaming, and got into an altercation with So. After that, a second round was fired, he said. The man left the area and called 911.

So was charged with criminal threatening and two counts of reckless conduct with a deadly weapon, both felonies, as well as two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and criminal mischief.

Editor's note: This post was derived from information supplied by the Portsmouth Police Department and does not indicate a conviction. This link explains the removal request process for New Hampshire Patch police reports.

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel.