At least 11 people were hurt in a series of violent incidents across Boston overnight, including two that left the victims with serious injuries.
Boston police confirmed officers responded to seven different scenes between Sunday evening and Monday morning as the city celebrated the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The most serious of the incidents happened in a shooting on Elizabeth Street around 2:19 a.m., when a man was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. He remains in critical condition, police said.
Another man was seriously injured in a shooting on Greenville Street just before 11 p.m. Sunday. He is listed in serious, but stable condition. Investigators stopped a vehicle that was seen leaving the area and found the driver also had non-life-threatening gunshot wounds, as well as a loaded gun. That driver will face weapons charges.
Boston police released information about five other scenes as well. At 10:45 p.m. on Woodbole Avenue a youth was shot, suffering non-life-threatening injuries. He was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Four more people were hurt in another shooting around 12:15 a.m., this time near Washington Street and Baily Street. Three victims, all men, were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The fourth victim also went to the hospital on his own, also with non-life-threatening injuries.
Then around 1:15 a.m., a man was shot near Monsignor Reynolds Way. His injuries are also non-life-threatening.
Officers were then called to an address on Garfield Avenue. There, a woman reported she was grazed by a bullet that entered her home. She was treated on scene and did not go to the hospital. Investigators found shell casings and spent fireworks in the area.
Additionally, a gunshot victim walked into Boston Medical Center for treatment overnight -- it was not immediately clear if that victim was involved in any of the other incidents or if the injury stemmed from a separate situation.
Boston police did not say if any of the incidents are connected, and none of the victims have been publicly identified at this time.
Mayor Michelle Wu expressed concern for the victim and said Monday morning that investigations were underway, noting those responsible would be held accountable.
"My heart goes out to the family members and all those who are impacted by unnecessary and unacceptable violence in our city," Wu said. "We’re working every day to make sure that Boston is a city where everybody is supported, connected to opportunity and ensure accountability for what happened."
Experts will tell you that gun violence typically rises as the weather turns warm, and holiday weekends are a particular concern. What happened in Boston overnight certainly validates that concern.
Its always in the news. Somebody's shot in Dorchester. Somebody's shot in Ashmont," said Dorchester resident Charlice Burrelle. "It's always something so I feel like something needs to be done. Like I live here. It's crazy. Like I don't even wanna leave here anymore."
And it's not exclusive to Dorchester.
"It does worry me. It worries me a lot," said Kaymah Troh. "Maybe we can like get rid of the guns and stuff like that but I don't know how well we can do it anyway."
People who live in the neighborhoods where the shots are being fired are frustrated. Massachusetts has some of the toughest gun laws in the country.
"Tough gun laws are one thing but these guns are gonna come from out of state. They're going to be smuggled in via cars and whatnot so what... how you gonna stop that?" asked Dorchester resident Justin Brown.
It's a sentiment echoed by Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden, who said the violence highlights a problem with guns.
“Guns are too easy to acquire in other states and too many of those guns are coming into Boston and ending up in the hands of people too willing to use them. The recent Supreme Court decision could make this illegal flow of guns even worse. I know I stand with all law enforcement partners in working to reduce gun violence, but the effort has to include all of us, not just police and prosecutors," Hayden said in a statement.
