Mayor Walsh to anyone who fires a gun in Boston right now: ‘You’re a coward’
"The last thing our community needs right now is violence," Walsh said in reflecting on three Boston shootings over the last week.
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Boston Mayor Marty Walsh expressed frustration Monday with three “terrible acts of violence” in Boston over the past week: the murder of a 17-year-old girl in Dorchester last Wednesday, the shooting of a 16-year-old in Jamaica Plain on Saturday, and on Saturday night, the serious injury of a 10-year-old girl in Roxbury when a group defying Boston’s pandemic curfew shot her through an apartment wall.
“The next thing I want to say to anyone who fires a gun right now is, you’re a coward,” Walsh said during his daily press conference on Monday. “You put everyone around you in danger, you bring trauma and suffering on your community and you will face justice.”
Community members are mourning 17-year-old Alissa King after she was shot during a daytime shooting near Topliff and Speedwell streets. King’s mother, Alana Farrell, said her daughter dreamed of playing college basketball and was the “life of the party.” Like Walsh, Farrell called this week for the violence to end.
The 10-year-old girl was injured in Roxbury on Saturday when a bullet was shot through the wall of a nearby apartment.
Stray bullet leaves 10-yr-old girl in Roxbury with non-life threatening injuries. Per @marty_walsh, “This is unacceptable. And, the coward who did this needs to be held accountable.” To help solve this senseless crime, please call 1(800) 494-TIPS or text TIP to CRIME. pic.twitter.com/xSwyU7DKHy
— Boston Police Dept. (@bostonpolice) April 19, 2020
As of Saturday, she was listed in critical condition, though her injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening.
“My heart goes out to the families and the communities. We are doing everything we can to be there for you and to make sure that this is not a trend,” Walsh said during his press conference.
“But everyone else who was there on Saturday night has to look at themself as well,” he continued. “The situation came out of a crowd that was gathered in an apartment, ignoring a curfew, ignoring guidelines, ignoring their community. This infuriated me, other elected officials, and certainly the community. People are telling me how angry and upset they are.
“I want the youth and young adults who were gathered that night to look what happened — ask themself, ‘is this what you want to be a part of?’ Look at the little girl, look at your own siblings, nieces, and nephews. Look at your grandmother and ask if she deserves to be safe,” Walsh said. “We’re doing everything we can to protect every community from a pandemic that is taking people’s lives. We’re doing everything we can to support people in need of resources. The last thing our community needs right now is violence.”
Boston’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security is working on intervention plans with trauma teams, clergy, the city’s police department and other community leaders, Walsh said.
“We have paused a lot of things in our city,” he said. “We did not pause our violence prevention or our public safety efforts for one second.”
Walsh promised more updates to come as new strategies to curb violence make ground.
And as the coronavirus pandemic continues ravaging the state, Mayor Walsh reminded everyone how important it is to band together.
“We need to be a united community,” he said. “We need to stay focused on keeping every single community safe from harm and we need every single person to do your part.”
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