‘Rival gangs’: Boston festival near mass shooting ‘plagued by gun violence,’ police report says
Boston Police officers who were monitoring the area on Talbot Avenue moments before Saturday’s mass shooting feared “an immediate threat to the general public” as rival gangs stared each other down during a popular Caribbean festival, police said in their report.
“The officers’ observations led them to have major concerns for the safety of all officers, civilians and party goers around them,” police said. “This information combined with the officers’ immediate knowledge of the history of violence between these rival gangs combined with the significant violence that surrounds Caribbean Festival weekend led officers to believe they needed to act as soon as possible to maintain a safe environment for festival goers.”
Around 8:30 a.m. Saturday, as officers began to walk towards the rival gang members, gunfire erupted in the city’s Dorchester neighborhood.
“When officers were about 15 yards away from the group, they heard multiple gun shots begin to ring out from the location of the group they were approaching,” police said. Officers then heard what they believed to be be return gunfire from another location.
“Party goers began to dive for cover and run in all directions as they were in fear of being shot,” police said in their report.
Eight people were shot on Talbot Avenue near the Boston Carnival J’ouvert Festival, police said. Four people were arrested.
Police said that officers were prepared for gun violence that has been seen in previous years during the festival.
Officers “were in full Boston Police uniforms with high visibility green traffic vests, badges prominently displayed on their outermost garments, with Body Worn Cameras affixed to the outside of their vests,” police said in their report.
“Officers were aware that the Caribbean festival weekend is historically plagued by gun violence,” responding police officers said in their report regarding Saturday’s mass shooting. “Officers were also aware that a festival of this size often brings together members of rival gangs from throughout the city.”
Police Commissioner Michael Cox, however, said during a press conference on Saturday that the mass shooting was not related to the Caribbean Carnival Festival taking place nearby, and that the shooting occurred on the outskirts of the scheduled parade route.
On Saturday, officers were specifically assigned to the Boys and Girls Club at 15 Talbot Ave. to monitor the area, police said.
Two different groups of males were congregating on opposite sides of the street, and the two groups were “continually staring across Talbot Avenue at each other while ignoring the ongoing parade/festival,” police said in their report.
Police recognized the males as rival gang members with violent histories that include previous gun charges, the police report states. Both sides were “actively taunting each other.”
Officers then decided to move toward the suspicious males, “fearing that delaying contact with these individuals would be an immediate threat to the general public,” police said.
As they approached the males, gunfire rang out.
“Officers unholstered their department issued firearms and began to move towards the sound of gun fire while scanning the crowd for any possible suspects and victims,” police said.
Officers then began administering first aid to several gunshot victims on scene.
The Boston shooting was the first of two shootings to happen near Caribbean festivals in Massachusetts over the weekend.
On Sunday afternoon, one day after the Boston shootings, two people were shot, including a 15-year-old teen, near the Caribbean Festival in Worcester, police said.
The victims were shot near Salisbury Street and Boynton Avenue and were taken to a nearby hospital, Worcester Police said.
The shooting occurred while the 10th annual Worcester Caribbean American Carnival was taking place at nearby Institute Park.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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