fb-pixelMattapan neighbors cite troubles after 3 shot - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

Mattapan neighbors cite troubles after 3 shot

Three people were recovering after a triple shooting early Monday in Mattapancq, which happened on a corner increasingly riddled with violence and crime, neighbors said.

The victims — a 22-year-old man and two 19-year-old women — sustained injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Boston police said.

“We have to do something about it,” retired police officer and Mattapan resident Chuck Robertscq said.

Roberts lives two houses away from the intersection of Elizabeth and Astoria streets, where Monday’s shooting occurred.

Roberts said he was sleeping when shots rang out about 12:10 a.m. When he came to his porch, he saw one of the victims, and also saw residents of a nearby house, the site of the shooting, signaling to emergency vehicles and police, Roberts said.

Advertisement



“The people I saw did not seem to be hurt that bad,” Roberts said.

A Boston police spokesman said that the incident remained under investigation and that no arrests had been made.

Roberts was one of several residents who expressed dismay over what they described as a rising tide of violence on the two streets. Roberts has lived on Elizabeth Street for seven years.

In the past 15 years, Elizabeth and Astoria streets have been at the center of several criminal incidents, remarkable because of their size. Elizabeth Street is a one-block, dead-end street near the Morton Street train station, with fewer than 10 street addresses. Astoria Street is only two blocks long.

In 2006, two men were shot outside an apartment building on Astoria Street. Five years ago, a mentally disabled 18-year-old was shot and killed on Astoria. Earlier this year, Boston police said officers recovered a loaded firearm on Elizabeth Street after an individual fled and left the gun. That person was never found, police said.

Monday’s incident marked the fourth episode of gunfire Roberts said he was aware of since moving to the area, in 2008.

Advertisement



Like Monday’s shooting, most of the incidents happened outside one particular house on Elizabeth Street, neighbors said. Except for Roberts, neighbors who spoke with a reporter asked not to be identified by name, fearing for their safety.

“It’s getting ridiculous. I can’t even sit outside my house,” one woman, who also lives on Elizabeth Street, said. “You have people who work every day and try to keep our property up, and we can’t even sit in our backyard.”

The 15-year Elizabeth Street resident called on the city to pay more attention to the corner.

When shots erupted early Monday morning, just 100 feet from her home, the woman was hosting a party for family members.

“That corner is bad news,” she said, referring to Elizabeth and Astoria streets.

Two people who identified themselves as occupants of the home where the shooting took place declined to comment Monday, stating they did not know the three injured individuals.

Neighbors remained upset.

“The street is bad now, and it’s sad,” said one man, who has lived near Astoria and Elizabeth streets for 29 years. The man, who lives on Astoria, said police and three emergency medical vehicles arrived 15 minutes after the shooting.

“It’s aggravating. There’s just not much you can do,” he said.

Roberts reminisced about the Elizabeth Street of old. This is the same street where Roberts used to visit his grandparents. They moved there in 1972, and he now lives in their old home.

Advertisement



“It was so nice then,” he said.

But things have changed.

“The violence hasn’t affected us directly,” Roberts said. “But now it just feels like a matter of time.”


Astead W. Herndon can be reached at astead.herndon@globe.com.