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Jan 19, 2008 5:59 pm US/Eastern
String Of Dorchester Violence Claims Another Life
DORCHESTER, Mass. (WBZ) ―
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Boston police investigate a shooting on Harvard Street in Dorchester.
WBZ
A man was killed in Dorchester's fourth fatal shooting in three days when gunfire rang out on Harvard Street Friday night.
Boston police said the bullets hit a 23-year-old man while he was eating inside a Jamaican restaurant, shattering windows along the street. The victim was rushed to Boston Medical Center with life-threatening injuries and later died.
"It's a big shock. He's a good kid," said the victim's father, Earl Dandy. "Just like any other kid, (he was) sitting in there trying to get something to eat and gets shot through the window. He loved his sisters, loved his family. This wasn't called for."
There is no word on any arrests and no suspect descriptions have been released.
A String Of Murders
This is the eighth murder in Boston this year, setting an alarming trend after last year's murder rate dropped from
75 murders in 2006 to 66 in 2007.
There were 3 homicides in the month of January last year and 2 homicides in January of 2006.
The rise in violence came as Mayor Tom Menino's State of the City address praised police efforts to quell violence.
On Wednesday, a 16-year-old was shot to death on Strathcona Road. The next day, a 23-year-old man died after being shot in Franklin Field. And police later found a man who had been stabbed to death on Tuttle Street.
Earlier in the week, three men were hit when bullets sprayed their car in Roslindale. One of the victims was hit in the head and later died. The shooting happened after the men had attended a funeral for another recent homicide victim, the Boston Globe reported.
Boston police Commissioner Ed Davis held a 4:40 p.m. news conference Saturday to discuss the increased violent activity.
Davis said in an effort to quiet things down, Boston police have been working around the clock since Thursday in a massive sweep, targeting gang members and those close to them.
"Our officers are laser-focused on their mission to eradicate firearm violence in the city of Boston," Davis said. "They will not allow these cowards to derail our mission to reduce violence in the community."
So far, the sweep has netted four firearms and led to 67 arrests. Davis said they have developed promising leads in the murders, including surveillance video in the restaurant shooting, which police believe is gang-related.
Click here to see a map of Boston's murder locations from 2007.
Boston police ask anyone with information about any of these shootings to contact them at 617-343-4470. Anonymous tips can be placed at 1-800-494-TIPS.
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