Hotel homicide victim ‘was targeted in that room,’ police say

A man in his 20s was shot and killed early Tuesday inside the Holiday Inn Express hotel in the South Bay shopping center in Dorchester, Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans said.

Evans said the victim was shot in a room on the fifth floor of the hotel in what he said was not believed to be a random act of violence. Officers responded around 4:20 a.m.

“This wasn’t a random act, by any means,’’ Evans told reporters. “He was targeted in that room.’’

Police are reviewing video from security cameras and interviewing hotel guests as part of the investigation, Evans said. Several people were seen running from the hotel after the gunfire.

A fire alarm inside the hotel was activated around the same time as the shooting, he said.

Evans said the homicide was the first in Boston in about three weeks. “It’s been relatively quiet over the last several weeks,’’ he said.

Boston EMS crews were called to the hotel at 69 Boston St. at 4:19 a.m., EMS Lieutenant Edward McCarthy said. EMS did not transport the victim to an area hospital, he said.