BERLIN – Investigators collected evidence on Thanksgiving Day after a Berlin man shot two armed men in an exchange of gunfire during a home invasion Wednesday night that left one man dead and another critically injured.

Nathaniel Stringfield, 23, of Berlin was killed and the second assailant was in "very critical" condition yesterday at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, according to Senior Assistant Attorney General Jeffery Strelzin.

The two men burst through the door of a first-floor apartment at 616 Third Ave. armed with handguns and physically assaulted the man who lived there and his girlfriend around 8 p.m., Strelzin said. The resident retrieved his handgun and shot the two men, police said.

"Preliminary indication is that all the gunfire occurred from within the house," Strelzin said, adding that some bullets traveled outside the building. "It certainly looks like this is a robbery."

Police are looking for a third invader who wasn't armed and who escaped. Police know who they're looking for, but Strelzin declined to release his name or that of the injured man. He said the critically injured man was found outside 827 Western Ave., about a third of a mile from the shooting scene, and where he "possibly" lived.

He wouldn't name the people who were inside the apartment. Both of them sustained minor injuries, and Strelzin believes the woman did get checked out at a hospital. He declined to say whether the pair knew the assailants and said it was "unclear whether it was random or not at this time."

►One dead in Berlin shooting (39)
►Map showing location of the shooting

Berlin resident Tina Raymond, whose mother lives next door to where the critically injured man was found bleeding, said she was told by someone familiar with both men's conditions that both were shot in the head.

One of Stringfield's friends said she couldn't understand how this happened.

"He was not a monster," said the friend who didn't want to be named. "He just got caught up with bad stuff."

Stringfield has a son who's about 2 years old, she said.

"It's an absolute tragedy," the friend said. "It's horrible for the families involved."

Strelzin said an autopsy time hadn't been set and he wouldn't comment on whether Stringfield had a criminal record.

"I can tell you obviously the State Police will be looking at the backgrounds of every individual involved," he said. "The case is under investigation to determine whether any charges will be brought against anyone and what charges."

Yesterday afternoon, Raymond said investigators were collecting evidence at 827 Western Ave.

"They're here taking pictures of the steps and entry way," she said. "There's pools of blood on the steps going into the house."

She said six or seven people live in the building next door.

Discussing the tarp and blood stains, Raymond said: "That is someone's life that's gone and there's nothing anybody can do to get it back. We need some help up here. There's no jobs; there's nothing to do. The economy is just digging itself deeper and deeper in holes."

City Councilor Lucie Remillard didn't know any of the individuals involved.

"We're very fortunate in this city that we don't customarily have this type of violence going on," she said. "Hopefully, in the next couple of days we'll learn a little more about it and put it to rest."

Born in Berlin 70 years ago, Frances Ingersoll lives almost diagonally across from where the shootings took place.

"We never had anything like this before," she said. "It's getting scary. It really is. Times have certainly changed and so close to home, it's even scarier."