Police in Boston, Cambridge and Everett are searching for suspects in what is at least for now considered five unrelated shooting deaths in those cities this week. Meanwhile, a police SWAT team last night raided a Dorchester home looking for a gunman in a non-fatal shooting yesterday in that neighborhood.
 
It has been a particularly bloody 48 hours of gun-violence. The latest shooting was of a man in his late 20’s –still unidentified—who was fired on late Thursday afternoon as he walked in the vicinity of Norton and Bowdoin Streets.  He suffered multiple gun shots to the upper torso and was rushed to Boston Medical Center, but is expected to survive.  A short time after the shooting a SWAT team descended on a triple-decker on Norton Street—just blocks from here—looking for a suspect.  It’s not clear if he was found.  
 
What’s going on in the streets?  What explains the deadliest night of violence this summer so far?  Law enforcement officials—including Police Commissioner William Evans— just weeks ago had expressed confidence that with the takedown of the deadly drug gang known as the Columbia Point Dawgs violence in the city might abate.
 
But sources within anti-gang street units tells WGBH News that the shootings in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan this week are not drug related.  They are described as killings between rival gangs from Charlame Street, Academy Road, Norfolk Street, Bowdoin, Geneva and other neighborhoods.  Sources describe it as a tit for tat war over respect that’s being stirred up on social media.  Whatever the causes, a group of men ranging in age from 21 to 40 standing on a corner in Dorchester on a hot humid night says enough already.  Guns says one is the problem. "Close down the gun factories," he says.

"Leadership is lacking," complains another man.
 
The target of this man’s criticism, Mayor Marty Walsh, was on the streets of Roxbury, Mattapan and Dorchester Thursday seeking cooperation from witnesses.
 
Meanwhile, in separate investigations, police in Cambridge and Everett are also pursuing forensic clues and seeking witnesses who might be able to identify suspects connected to those shootings as well.  Authorities do not believe—at least at this point—that the five deaths and six shootings are related.
 

PREVIOUSLY:  Five are dead – three in Boston, one in Cambridge, and one in Everett – after regional mayhem erupted late Wednesday and early Thursday.

“Boston is better than this,” said Mayor Marty Walsh Thursday as he requested residents who had knowledge of that city’s shootings to step forward and help police identify the criminals responsible.

“We need,” said Walsh, “help from the community.”

The first incident occurred around 10:19 Wednesday night on Hosmer Street, a neighborhood of three-deckers in Mattapan, where a party was in progress.

A series of explosive “pops” was heard that for a moment were thought to be firecrackers before 911 was called after it became apparent that three men had been wounded, one fatally.

Minutes later, on Ernst Street in Roxbury, another volley of shots rang out, killing two and wounding another.

The wounded are expected to recover. All of the victims appeared to be men in their early 20s. None have been identified.

Police Commissioner Bill Evans said the shootings were presumed to be related to gang activity. But aside from saying that all angles of inquiry were being pursued, Evans declined further speculation.

Hours later, after 4 p.m., another man was shot at the corner of Bowdoin and Norton Streets in Dorchester. He, too, appeared to be in his early 20s, and was taken to Boston Medical Center in non-critical condition.

Evans assured community members that Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan already had the heaviest concentrations of police deployment, but that all steps necessary to protect public safety would be taken.

Patrols of SWAT teams were reported active in the neighborhoods.

Evans stressed the need for tips from the community if the police are to successfully do their job, and added that police were serious about providing protection for those who come forward.

“We will put people in witness protection if we have to,” Evans said, “but there haven’t been any incidents of anyone getting hurt as an eyewitness.”

Although crime is down city wide, shootings in Boston are running ahead of last year, while homicides too are down.

In Cambridge, witnesses heard as many as 10 shots near the Kendall Square T stop, not far from the MIT campus. A passenger in a car was killed. The car's driver is cooperating with police.

At about 1 a.m. Thursday, authorities say 21-year-old Ashlee Berryman, of Malden, was shot and killed near an Everett restaurant. Investigators say her killing was a case of mistaken identity.

 

UPDATED: 6:19 p.m.  Yet another shooting ripped through Boston, this time in Dorchester: a man described by police as being in his 20s was shot in broad daylight on the corners of Bowdoin and Norton Streets Thursday afternoon. Emergency crews rushed the victim to Boston medical center where he is expected to recover. This latest shooting comes on the heels of deadly attacks in Roxbury and Mattapan.
　

UPDATED: 4:01 p.m.  Four late-night shootings in the Boston area have left five people dead, including a 21-year-old woman authorities believe was an unintended target, police said.

A man was fatally shot in a car in Cambridge near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus at about 8:40 p.m. Wednesday.

Three men were shot, two fatally, in Boston's Roxbury section at about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Just minutes later, three men were shot in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood. One died. The other two are expected to survive.

At about 1 a.m. Thursday, authorities say 21-year-old Ashlee Berryman, of Malden, was shot and killed outside near an Everett restaurant.

None of the other victims have been publicly identified. No arrests have been announced.

There is no indication that any of the shootings are related.

 

UPDATED: 11:15 a.m.  Overnight violence in and around Boston resulted in five dead and two injured in four separate shootings.

The attacks took place in Cambridge, Everett, Mattapan and Roxbury.

In Cambridge, witnesses heard as many as 10 shots near the Kendall Square T stop, not far from the MIT campus. A passenger in a car was killed. The car's driver is cooperating with police.

In Everett, a woman was shot and killed in a municipal parking lot.

Police suggested that gang-related violence may be the cause of the Roxbury gunplay, which resulted in two dead.

On Mattapan's Hosmer Street, 3 sustained gunshot wounds. One man died of his injuries.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh called for street violence to stop.

Police Commissioner Bill Evans is expected to make a statement later this morning.

 

 

 

PREVIOUSLY: Police in Massachusetts are investigating three late-night fatal shootings in the Boston area.

A man was shot in a car in Cambridge near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus at about 8:40 p.m. Wednesday. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. The driver of the car is cooperating with police.

Three men were shot, one fatally, in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood at about 10:20 p.m. Wednesday. The other two victims are expected to survive.

Police also say a woman was shot and killed early Thursday in a municipal parking lot in Everett.

The victims' names have not been released and there was no word on any arrests in any of the shootings.

In addition, two men were injured in a shooting in Boston's Roxbury section on Wednesday.