DA 'Disappointed' By Wave Of Violence In Boston That's Left 9 Dead In 2020
BOSTON (CBS) – Boston Police Commissioner William Gross and Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins acknowledged there's a jump in gun violence in Boston Tuesday. One person was killed and another injured in separate shootings hours apart overnight.
A man was shot and killed in Mattapan around 7:30 p.m. Monday. Several hours later police found another man shot and wounded on Frazer Street in Hyde Park, not far from a charter school and playground. He is expected to survive.
There have now been nine homicides in Boston this year.
"We were together last evening at a scene in Mattapan and so it's disappointing," said Rollins. "Every homicide is tragic but we're working as hard as we can law enforcement and our crime strategies bureau to see whether we can interrupt things before they start occurring, But I'm disappointed and I need you to hear me say we will find these individuals and we will remove them from the community and we will hold them accountable."
Gross said, "We are very prideful here in Boston, this is a great city, all of our communities are great and unfortunately the actions of a few have created an uptick in violence. I'd like to say personally right now thank you for everyone in all of those incidents that called 911. Thank you to all of the witnesses. Thank you to people who helped provide evidence to help us facilitate these investigations."
"I heard a handful of gunshots, maybe six to eight gunshots," said Ric Caban, who lives near the scene on Frazer Street in Hyde Park. "You can see the car backed up on to my fence and police are around it. You could see the back window was shot out. He was just yelling 'don't take me, don't take me.' I don't know if he was addressing the police or he if was addressing God. He yelled that about 10 times."
Caban said he has been living there for six years and there have been multiple shootings right outside his home.
"As I stated last night, in society, there are bad people but the good outweigh the bad. And the people in these neighborhoods have been stepping forward, not even anywhere near a stop snitching-type situation, everybody has been coming forward because enough is enough. Last year we enjoyed a very low crime rate and homicide rate -- one homicide is too many -- but it's a direct result of people in the community participating and helping us out because this is all our village," Gross said.
Only two people have been arrested so far in the nine homicides in Boston this year, Gross said.
Emmett Folgert has been a streetworker with Dorchester Youth Collaborative for decades. He said violent crime is often gang-related and not widespread. "Eight-five percent of the violence happens in seven percent of the area. These are small, violent crime hotspots. We know exactly where they are and that's where we should be."
