One killed, two hospitalized after triple shooting in Roxbury Crossing

Boston+Police+Commissioner+William+B.+Evans+spoke+to+the+press+at+the+corner+of+Gurney+Street+and+Parket+Street+Wednesday+night.+%2F+Photo+by+Maggie+Dolan

Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans spoke to the press at the corner of Gurney Street and Parket Street Wednesday night. / Photo by Maggie Dolan

Charlie Wolfson

Three people were shot at the intersection of Tremont Street and Parker Street Wednesday night, killing one person, leaving one in critical condition and one in serious condition, Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans said. Evans briefed the media at 9:47 p.m. at the scene of the shooting. At that time, police did not know the identity of the shooter.

At 7:47 p.m., police officers arrived outside the Tobin Community Center in Roxbury Crossing after receiving a disturbance call. As police responded, Evans said they heard multiple shots fired nearby. They discovered three victims, who Evans said “looked to be in their late teens.”

One victim was found on Parker Street and was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he died before Evans spoke to the media. Another victim was found on Tremont Street outside the community center, and a third was found on Sewall Street.

“We’re hoping and praying the other two individuals make it, but right now we need the public’s help,” Evans said. “Probably about 200 kids poured out of the community center after it happened and while it was going on, so there very well could have been a lot of witnesses.”

Evans said they worry about the potential for retaliation in these types of situations, so they need witnesses to step forward. He said police were working with staff from the community center, viewing camera footage and using search dogs to figure out what happened.

He said he, along with Mayor Martin J. Walsh, is very concerned about gun violence in the city. He noted that today’s youth “aren’t fighting with their hands,” and that too many of them have weapons that escalate the consequences.

“Everyone should be outraged when something like this happens to these young kids,” Evans said. “I think it goes back to what we’ve been saying all along, that there’s way too many guns out there.”

Evans and Walsh are even further concerned in light of a bill passed Wednesday in the U.S. House of Representatives, which would loosen bans on the concealed carry of weapons nationwide. H.R. 38, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017, passed the House 238-198 to advance to the Senate.

The bill would allow citizens who are licensed to carry a concealed weapon in their home state to carry in all 50 states, regardless of each state’s concealed carry law. No state currently has a law explicitly banning concealed carry, but such a law would supercede this bill, according to the text of the bill available on the House website.

“We shouldn’t be looking to loosen our gun laws in Washington, we should be looking to toughen,” Evans said. “And when we have young kids like this shot we should all be outraged, and the last thing we need is more guns on the streets. Loosening up the gun laws right now is the most ridiculous thing we can do.”

Mark V. Scott, the program director of trauma response and recovery at the Boston Public Health Commission, stood with Evans at the press briefing and said he would be working with students present at the community center, offering emotional support in the aftermath of the shooting.

“It’s a traumatic event, it’s an upsetting event,” Scott said. “So the work that we’ll be working on is reaching out to those young people, to have conversations with them, to help them have conversations with each other, with their family, so they can be on the road to recovery and healing.”

Evans said the location of the shooting, so close to a community center packed with children enjoying a basketball game, was particularly troubling.

“You know, the reason Mayor Walsh keeps all these community centers open is to prevent incidents like this,” Evans said. “And it’s always troubling when something like this happens. Three is way too many people shot, but we’re fortunate that we didn’t have many more people injured.”

Maggie Dolan contributed to this story.