On Monday, November 22, 2021 at approximately 01:30 hours Boston Police and Boston EMS responded to a medical emergency at 580 Harvard Street in Mattapan after MBTA Transit Police found a man laying on the street bloody and unconscious.
Boston EMS located a patient with a severe head injury and quickly began to render aid. After a short time during the EMTs assessment, they realized the man was in possession of a loaded firearm. Boston Police officers quickly secured the firearm which was lucky discovered while still on scene. BEMS paramedics soon arrived and they were able confirmed the patient was actually suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, complicating the mystery even further.
The window of a nearby house was observed to be open, and K-9s were deployed in the house along with the surrounding area. Patient was transported, with what surprisingly seems to be non-life threatening injuries. No further information has been released at this time.
The crime scene was released and tape was taken down by 02:15. Afterwards, at 02:31 hours ShotSpotter sent a one round activation for 455 Harvard, nearly an hour late. Glitches like these are rare in the ShotSpotter system but can happen.
Gun violence in America’s cities is a devastating epidemic, with 88% of firearm discharges never being reported to police. ShotSpotter uses acoustic triangulation technology and successfully alerts police to 90% of shots fired in the covered areas.
Wireless acoustic sensors are secured in strategic areas, with around 20 sensors needed to cover each square mile. Each sensor uses the volume and sound of the shot to triangulate where the shot originated. The information is then sent to data terminals with a recording of the shots, how many rounds, and the calculated location, which enables Operations to immediately dispatch units. Countless gunshot victims nationwide have been saved with this technology.
As always, community members wishing to assist this investigation anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463). The Boston Police Department will stringently guard and protect the identities of all those who wish to assist this investigation in an anonymous manner.
