Boston police say six people were shot Sunday night in a span of less than an hour in three separate places across the city, and one of those people has died from their injuries.
Speaking at a press conference around 11:15 p.m. Sunday, Boston police Deputy Supt. Felipe Colon said the three shootings occurred between 9-10 p.m. at Orlando Street, Westview Street and Rosa Street.
Boston police commissioner Michael Cox called it "a pretty terrible evening."
"I don't know about you, but this is tough, this is getting tough to take, this is more than tough to take," he said. "Boston is a great city, but at this rate, if we don't get the public's support, things could change quickly."
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According to Colon, officers first responded to 10 Orlando Street around 9:10 p.m. and found two men with gunshot wounds. Both were taken to local hospitals where one victim was pronounced dead. The second victim is expected to be OK.
A short time after, Colon said, officers responded to 92 Westview Street for ShotSpotter activation and found a man with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries.
After that, officers responded to 1 Rosa Street in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood and found another man with gunshot wounds. He was taken to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Not long after, two people self-admitted to a local hospital with gunshot wounds, and police believe they are connected to the Hyde Park scene at this point, according to Colon.
Police are in the preliminary stages of their investigations and are processing multiple scenes at this time. No arrests have been made.
According to the commissioner, it's too early to say whether or not these were targeted shootings, or if they were related in any way.
Officials are urging anyone with information to call homicide detectives at 617-343-4470, or the anonymous CrimeStopper tip line at 1-800-494-TIPS.
"Having six people shot within an hour period, multiple locations throughout the city, is a terrible thing no matter what time period it is. Whether it's the worst crime period, or whether it's one of the better ones in our history," Cox said. "The only thing more troubling is that our phones aren't ringing off the hooks from people telling us what happened or what they might have seen or heard. We need the public's help and support on this."
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The commissioner added that police officers will certainly be out in the areas where they think they need to be in to prevent this from happening again but it comes down to the public's help.
"But we need the public to come forward to tell us about anything that they think is connected to any of these crimes," Cox added. "If you see after hour parties in your neighborhood, please let us know. Anything that you think needs our attention, let us know by calling the tip line. We need your support on this one."
Suffolk County District Attorney also spoke at the press conference Sunday night, saying this is a "difficult night."
"Nothing has a greater ability to tear apart our communities than gun violence. Nothing. And nothing has the ability to tear apart our communities faster than gun violence," Kevin Hayden said. "And tragically and unfortunately we are witnessing that here tonight."
"Over the last several weeks, our communities and the support that we've received have been tremendous and we know that everyone is gravely concerned about where we are, and we should be. As the commissioner stated, we have to be vigilant, but we're very, very concerned," the DA added. "And we need the community's full support in these matters. We need people who know and have information to step forward."
Hayden said officials will do everything they can to thoroughly investigate each case in an attempt to bring justice to the perpetrators, but he reiterated that they can't do it alone.
"We need the community's support now more than ever as we continue to face these instances of gun violence. We need the support of everybody," he said. "It is tragic and we simply cannot allow our communities to be torn apart by this gun violence."
