An overnight shooting left a man with gunshot injuries on Windsor Street in The Port neighborhood in Cambridge, police said Wednesday.
Officers responded at around 12:44 a.m. to the Newtowne Court housing project for a report of six shots fired, followed by screaming; another caller said a man had been shot in the stomach, according to scanner reports. When police arrived and found the victim in a parking lot, he was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds, police said.
“Detectives believe this was a targeted incident,” police said in a 7:09 a.m. email, and the investigation is ongoing.
This is the 11th gun incident of the year in Cambridge reported by police, and the first since gunfire was heard in The Port on Aug. 24, nearly three months ago. The most recent incident in which there were victims found, though, was Aug. 18 in Kendall Square – a road rage incident.
In this incident, Shotspotter technology did not hear the gunfire and alert police, according to scanner reports.
A stronger
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***This is not intended to be a reactionary comment – genuinely interested in thoughts.***
In 2024, there have been 13 shots fired incidents in Cambridge. 6 of them have been in or next to this housing project, and a 7th up the street featured a shooter who ran towards the housing project. 3 of them have resulted in people being shot.
It’s clearly a deteriorating issue as the numbers + concentration have increased over time. At the same time, the tenants have complained about the quality of life / apartment issues in this community. The buildings are quite old and unwelcoming, and with ~half of the shootings in Cambridge nearby, something is off. Meanwhile this neighborhood is surrounded by wealth, universities and pleasant neighborhoods.
What can the city do to deal with this?
@CH39 I don’t know which plausibly fictitious person you’ve been talking to. The units were just renovated a few years ago with new HVAC, new flooring, new appliances and fixtures and in my experience still fairly new. In the spring the callery pear trees blossom and in the fall the oaks turn red. Some of the lawn has been converted to native shrubbery, a few lots have been given to tenants to improve. They’ve installed cameras all over the place, including several last month.The place neither feels old nor uninviting at all.
There’s not a strong sense of community here because the churn seems fairly high and the tenants here are perhaps too diverse (Most of the people here seem to be immigrants or second gen) but it is still a very fortunate place to be.
I agree with Nihal. I live about a half mile away and walk my dog through there all the time. It’s quite pretty. Flower gardens nicely kept all summer. Big lush trees and lawns. Well maintained play and bbq areas. AND no garbage to distract my dog. Extremely clean. Friendly people to chat with. I love going there.
Hey Carol and Nihaal — I was responding to this article I’d remembered reading from 5 months ago. Not a plausibly fictitious person although that was a great use of vocabulary.
https://www.cambridgeday.com/2024/06/25/newtowne-court-and-washington-elms-tenants-protest-conditions-and-response-by-managers/
Was basing my statement off the petition from the tenants with 136 signatures. Perhaps they were wrong.
Anyways sounds like you have no concerns about the six shootings in proximity of the complex this year. All good.
Hope you can understand that reading an article on a screen is a myopic experience.
For the past year there has been a growing group of individuals loitering for hours in front of the playground and tennis courts on Harvard Street across from Newtone.
These individuals openly consume alcohol, litter profusely, and smoke marijuana. They sometimes start midday and sometimes go quite late. And I’m not talking about discreet consumption, I’m talking blunts and handles of liquor. In front if a kids splash pad no less.
I can’t help but think there may be some connection. I don’t mean to accuse folks, but lets break things up once folks are fragrantly violatiing our public order laws and see where that gets us.
Sorry to be late to the conversation, folks. I am very grateful for the heart-felt comments already posted.
My questions: 1) I see the school in East Cambridge is slotted to close. The closing of a school is always, I think, a sadness worth reconciling.
2) What are opportunities and barriers to youth education in Area IV? Ask the inmate next you to explain the term, it’s where great things happened and hopefully always will. I’ll elaborate separately, dropping here names Janet and Ricky Rose, Bob Moses, George Sommaripa, David Scondras, and Walter Milne. And beautiful people with lots kinds of names, folks of all ages trying to get by, figuring out which end is up, worried about sliding down. Folks perhaps seeing too much reality.
3) My last church membership was St Paul’s AME. Has the smaller AME on School St re-opened? Do people talk about church any more? That place always, always rocked. No sleeping late for me. Nevermind the sirens going off at Biogen.
In this thread about a November 2024 shooting at the Washington Elms project, I posted some questions earlier today. And some opinions, basically believing that the history and people, as well as the health, education, and faith institutions in the closely-surrounding area are, well, all we could hope for in a civic community, at least at the present time. I also quibbled with the fact that the community is referred to as The Port. I guess that name change took place, so it goes.
Please forgive the distraction of what I post here, exploring some superficial facts and beliefs as I hold them.
History is important. History is the stories of people and places.
Area IV was home to many heroes; I only know a scant few. The entire Rose clan of Pine St, Bob Moses who brought us the Civil Rights legislation with his blood and then The Algebra Project with his wisdom and strength, George Sommaripa and his family, who brought us the Nuclear Freeze Movement and remain about as active as anybody you’d want.
The dedicated folks of the Area IV coalition. Hard working, under-compensated families, parents, nurses, janitors, feeding and caring for the life blood of, as Click and Clack said, “Our Fair City”. David Scondras. The staffs at the Community Health Centers, the gang at the Area IV Youth Center, doing so much, including the Friday night fabulous chess club inspired by another hero, left us too soon, memorialized by Rico Modica square, near the Korean Market and across from the OMG Delicious former Mary Chung Restaurant.
The community eschewed The Port as an appellation in the mid/late 90’s. Didn’t want to be swallowed up by that particular yuppie swarm, and their landlord masters. Real estate folk definitely don’t like the idea of a community named after the code used on the police blotter. Out of need (just like everything true) Area IV and CPD had – and I trust have – a great relationship.