3 Somerville teens arrested in connection with Harvard Square shooting

Three Somerville teenagers are facing charges, including attempted murder, after an 18-year-old from Cambridge was allegedly shot early Sunday morning in Harvard Square, police said.

David Pleitez, 18, and a 16-year-old are charged with attempted murder, carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying a loaded firearm without a license, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, and having a firearm without the proper federal identification, according to police. Joao Bonicenha, 19, is charged with attempted murder and accessory after the fact.

Pleitez and Bonicenha were expected to be arraigned Thursday in Cambridge District Court while the 16-year-old was slated for arraignment in Middlesex County Juvenile Court.

Police were called to Harvard Square around 3:30 a.m. Sunday for a report of possible shots fired, police said. The suspects were seen taking off toward JFK Street, and police found four shell casings on Eliot Street.

Police then heard that the 18-year-old male victim from Cambridge had gone to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries from a gunshot wound. There were “several altercations” near the square and Eliot Street garage before the shooting, officials said.

Police caught up with the suspects on Thursday after they reviewed surveillance images, according to police. Authorities also found an involved vehicle and seized it.

“We will not accept this type of behavior occurring in our safe community,” Cambridge Police Commissioner Branville G. Bard Jr. said in the release.

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