LAWRENCE, Mass. – A decorated Marine accused of firing a shotgun at a crowd of club-goers pleaded not guilty yesterday to attempted murder and other charges and was ordered to be evaluated at a state psychiatric hospital.

Daniel Cotnoir was named “Marine of the Year” last month for his service as a military mortician in Iraq. A mortician by trade, he prepared the bodies of U.S. soldiers for burial and says the job took a heavy psychological toll.

Police said he pointed a 12-gauge shotgun out the window of his second floor apartment and fired a shot at a crowd of noisy people leaving nearby nightclubs early Saturday. Two people were treated at hospitals for leg wounds and released.

Mr. Cotnoir, 33, a father of two daughters, told police he feared for the safety of his family after someone threw an empty juice bottle through his bedroom window.

“It was never this man’s intention, as he tells me, to hurt anyone,” said his lawyer, Robert Kelley. “It was only his intention to fire a warning shot when he was placed in a threatening situation.”

A prosecutor said club-goers had seen Mr. Cotnoir standing with his gun at the window over his family’s funeral home, but thought the weapon was fake.

Mr. Cotnoir was charged with two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and one count of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.

He met yesterday with a court-appointed psychologist, and then Judge Thomas Brennan ordered him evaluated at a state hospital. Another hearing was set for September 2.

Last month, Marine Corps Times chose Mr. Cotnoir over 180,000 other candidates for its annual Marine of the Year award. Mr. Cotnoir, now a reservist, told the Eagle-Tribune last month that he was getting counseling at a veterans hospital. “It’s a lot harder to talk about the job now than it was at the time to actually do it,” he said. “The stories I’ve gained from my deployment aren’t the kind of stories you share.”

The shooting victims were identified as Lissette Cumba, 15, and Kelvin Castro, 20. Ms. Cumba’s cousin, Stephanie Tejeda, who was in the crowd that night, described seeing the shotgun muzzle poking through the window. “I just thought he wanted to scare us to get away from the area,” said Ms. Tejeda. “Who shoots at an open crowd?”

Ms. Tejeda said she does not want to see Mr. Cotnoir go to prison.

“I just think he should get help. That’s how I see it,” she said.

James Stokes, a retired minister who went to school with Mr. Cotnoir’s father, said he does not believe Daniel Cotnoir was trying to kill anyone.

“This man is a wonderful person,” he said. “Something might have happened when he came back from Iraq….He’s out there picking up body parts,” he said.

Also yesterday, an Iraq war veteran appeared in court in Las Vegas to face charges of using an assault rifle to kill a woman and wound a man in an alley.

An attorney for Matthew Sepi, 20, said he acted in self-defense and should be eligible for psychological treatment.