Shooter hits Dorchester school
Cops: Man injured as bullet misses kids
Gunfire shattered the window of a Dorchester middle school yesterday, missing the scores of children attending a summer camp there but critically injuring a man outside the building, police said.
“It’s a continuing frustration,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino outside Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School, as he comforted parents rushing to pick up their children after the incident.
“The police are doing their job. We’re going to continue to take bad guys off the street. We’re going to keep doing our work. We’re not going to stop.”
The school was being used as a children’s summer camp by Project RIGHT, a Roxbury-based program that provides services to the neighborhoods of Boston, said the program’s director, Jorge Martinez.
The bullet did not get through the triple-pane window, but did break the glass, said Menino’s spokeswoman Dot Joyce. By 5 p.m., the glass had been replaced.
Police said a man sitting in a car on Columbia Road was targeted by a shooter in a silver Mercedes Benz who fired multiple times and fled at about 2:30 p.m.
The victim, who suffered life-threatening wounds, drove into the school’s parking lot, where he asked for help from Project RIGHT staff, who assisted him and called 911, Martinez said.
The violence came hours after cops carried out two warrant sweeps and brought down top-level members of one notorious street gang that police believe is behind a portion of the latest mayhem, and has been at war with two other gangs, a police source said.
In all, police said 22 men between the ages of 18 and 41 were nabbed in sweeps dubbed Operation Bad Rap and Operation Summer Sweep. Nearly all of the men were arrested for distribution of cocaine, police said.
Among those arrested was Jamaul Douglas, 37, of Mattapan, who was charged with the most serious offense: trafficking cocaine. He pleaded not guilty in Dorchester District Court and was held on $10,000 cash bail. A message left at a phone number listed to him was not immediately returned.
“Boston police are dedicated to ensuring the safety of our residents and remain steadfast in our proactive approach to target known offenders,” Boston police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said in a statement. “The consistent execution of these focused enforcement efforts will continue to have an impact on advancing public safety.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1350383
