Boston’s homicides up slightly, shootings down
In mid-June, Andrew Flonory was shot and killed in Mattapan. Two months later, Ailton Goncalves was shot in the head while hanging out with friends in Uphams Corner. On a morning last month, Anthony Toombs was killed while sitting in a car in Roxbury.
All three killings were gang-related, police and prosecutors have said.
There have been 46 killings in Boston so far in 2016, six more than in 2015. Though the number of homicides is lower than in many other major cities, gang-related homicides remain a troubling portion of the killings in Boston. Police say they continue to focus resources on the most violent parts of the city, but some crimes, officials say, are nearly impossible to prevent.
“We can’t be everywhere, every day,” said Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans. “A shooting at 4 a.m. behind Heath Street . . . I don’t know how you stop that.”
By the end of 2015, there were 40 homicides in the city, including two that were investigated by the State Police. This year, two of the 46 are being investigated by the State Police. Homicides reached a 15-year low in 2015.
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