Overnight, at approximately 02:39 hours, Boston Police Officers from multiple Districts including B-2, B-3 as well as citywide EDTs responded to a ShotSpotter activation in the area of 11 Ellington Street.
Due to Covid-19 the official Caribbean Festival also known as Carnival was canceled, however that did not stop community members from coming out in the thousands to Talbot Ave near Franklin Field and the surrounding areas to celebrate. Even with the city refusing to issue permits, and the limited amount of communication, planning and preparation that could be made by public safety, Officers and Troopers had a heavy presence in the area. By 02:00 hours the entire area including Talbot Ave, up Blue Hill Ave past Columbia Road had turned into one big block party. With groups from all over converging. Because of this, Officers were already in the area and were quickly made aware that a person had been shot.
The victim was located across Blue Hill Ave at the entrance to Peabody Circle, near the Franklin Park Zoo Bus Stop. State Police Troopers as well as Officers who were on traffic posts at that intersection immediately began rendering aid to the victim and began to attempt to clear out the hundreds of cars, people and illegal mopeds and ATVs that were congregating in the area so Boston EMS could reach them.
EMS was finally able to push through the mass of traffic and party goers and reached the man. He was transported with serious life-threatening injuries to a local area hospital. Originally he was not expected to survive. A second person was transported by Boston EMS for evaluation, believed to be either a witness or family member.
Full notifications were made and the Homicide Unit, B-3 Detectives and Crime Scene Response Unit were called in. Once the area was cleared and secured it became apparent that the man was shot at the intersection of Blue Hill Ave and Ellington Street and then ran across the street to where he was located across the road from Stash’s. Spent shell casings could be seen littered around a vehicle with multiple bullet holes in it. Loud, festive music could still be heard coming from the vehicle’s sound system as the scene began to be processed.
Miraculously, the man is still clinging to life this morning however it is unknown if this will change. The brazenness of this act of violence was shocking to many especially given that there were multiple State Police Troopers and Boston Police Officers in the immediate vicinity of the shooting. As one older man from the neighborhood said while speaking to Police, “this is why we can’t have nice things, these kids are wild now, they’ll shoot anyone for no reason.â€
At this time no arrests have been made and no further information is available. As always community members wishing to assist with the investigation can do so by reaching out to the CrimeStoppers Hotline at 1-800-494-TIPS or by texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).
