Landlord’s son charged with shooting another man after dispute on Broadway in Somerville

By Jarret Bencks, Globe Correspondent

SOMERVILLE - A landlord’s son was identified today as the person who shot a man in the neck on the front porch of his family’s home on Broadway Sunday night, a shooting that left the victim with life-threatening wounds.

Santano Dessin, 33, was arrested by Somerville police around 11:30 p.m. Sunday outside the three family home at 196 Broadway the Dessin family has owned since the early 1990s, according to public records and the office of Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr.

Dessin is accused of shooting a 28-year-old man in the neck. The man is undergoing treatment for life-threatening injuries at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. The victim’s name has not been released.

Dessin’s brother, Jacques, today identified his brother as the shooter and also alleged that he had acted in self-defense after he was confronted on the front porch of his family’s home by a first floor tenant and two other men. He said his brother had stepped onto the front porch when the tenant and two other men refused to let him back into the building.

“They attacked my brother,” Jacques Dessin said today. “This is a man who used restraint when he felt he was in bodily harm.”

According to Leone spokeswoman Stephanie Chelf Guyotte, the victim is a Somerville resident, but does not live at 196 Broadway.

Jacques Dessin said his brother was legally licensed to carry a firearm, a fact confirmed by authorities.

“It’s a sad situation, but I’m grateful that at least these people didn’t harm my brother,” Jacques Dessin said.

Jacques Dessin said his brother served in the US Army for a period of time and is currently unemployed, having last worked as a substitute teacher at a charter school in Dorchester.

Santano Dessin lived in the second floor unit with his parents, both of whom are in their 60s, his brother said. According to a neighbor and records, the Dessin family has been living in the building since about 1988.

“They’ve been good neighbors,” Joe Ferrazzani, a neighbor, said today. “There have never been any problems.”

Santano Dessin is scheduled to be be arraigned Tuesday in Somerville District Court on charges of assault with intent to murder, assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, Leone’s office said.