Three shootings that took place in Cambridge, Somerville and Belmont within around 10 hours are being investigated, Middlesex district attorney Marian Ryan said Wednesday.
“These shootings mark the most significant surge in gun violence here since 2022. The fact that over 50 shots were fired in very densely populated areas, some in the middle of the afternoon, is the type of brazen, dangerous conduct for which those responsible must be held accountable,” Ryan said.
The shootings began in The Port neighborhood of Cambridge at around 2:15 p.m. Monday. A preliminary investigation suggests an argument between two people not known to each other led to one shooting multiple times at another – injuring no one. Police were able to identify “multiple juveniles suspected to be involved,” Ryan said. Along with the description of a gunfire incident flaring up as the culmination of a heated argument, police say the shooter was wearing a mask; no official clarified what kind of mask.
One juvenile from this Cambridge incident was arraigned Tuesday on charges of possession of a large-capacity magazine and ammunition. A second juvenile has been charged with assault and battery on a police officer and defacing property – the result of throwing an object at an officer and damaging items in the interview room at the Cambridge Police Department, officials said.
At approximately 9:15 p.m. Monday, or seven hours after the Cambridge incident, Belmont police responded to a call of shots fired on Clark Lane, where a man was shot in the leg by someone in a vehicle speeding past an apartment building. The man’s son was with him, but was not injured.
As the gunshot victim checked in to Mount Auburn Hospital, police in Belmont and surrounding communities searched for the shooter. Belmont police said the violence was not random, and there was no immediate threat to other people in town, according to the Belmont Voice.
Finally, just after midnight as Monday became Tuesday, police in Somerville responded to multiple 911 calls about shots fired in the area of the Clarendon Towers on Broadway.
Again, a man was shot at outside an apartment building when a car pulled up. “Multiple individuals allegedly exited the vehicle and began firing in his direction,” police said. The man “was possibly targeted.” Forty-seven shell casings and other ballistic evidence was found.
Cambridge, Somerville and Belmont police and Massachusetts State Police are investigating with Ryan’s office. Investigators ask anyone with information to call their local police department or the state police detective unit assigned to the District Attorney’s Office at (781) 897-6600.
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