DORCHESTER — Three people were hit by gunfire and a multi-family home was riddled with rounds late Sunday night after a Cape Verde World Cup celebration on Bowdoin Street erupted into open gunfire, with Boston Police forced onto a citywide tactical alert.
According to Boston Police, the shooting happened at approximately 10:41 p.m. on the 400 block of Quincy Street in Dorchester. Officers arrived to find a man conscious in a driveway, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition, where he underwent surgery. Two others were grazed by bullets in the gunfire; both refused treatment at the scene. Boston Police have not announced any arrests and have said their investigation remains active.
The night had started as a victory party — flag-waving crowds claiming Bowdoin Street from Geneva Avenue to Adams Avenue, what one scanner observer called a "backyard World Cup afterparty" that swallowed the road so completely that even Boston Fire and EMS were ordered to stay clear, according to Boston police scanner monitor @StacoS.
It ended as a homicide scene in progress.
Tactical alert at 10:46 p.m.
Five minutes after the shots, Boston Police hit the emergency button. The department went on EDT tactical alert, dumping citywide cars into Dorchester and flipping to full crowd-control posture as the celebration refused to thin out.
Crowd-control units mid-deployment switched missions on the fly, officers shouldering through the celebration crowd to reach the man down in the driveway.
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By 11:06 p.m., the area had been cordoned off and homicide detectives were rolling in.
By 11:28 p.m., gunfire had punched through the second-floor apartments of a multi-family home — bullets reaching into people's homes.
By 11:33 p.m., the man in the driveway was listed in serious to critical condition at the hospital, and Boston Police homicide detectives had been formally activated.
Before the shooting
Bowdoin Street had effectively been ceded to the celebration. Hundreds of flag-waving Cape Verde fans turned the stretch from Geneva to Adams Avenue into a rolling street party — MBTA buses re-routed, traffic at a dead stop, the noise drowning out Boston Police trying to muscle through the mass of people.
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When the gunfire opened up, the crowd was still there.
Dorchester community activist João Depina walked past the cordon and filmed it for Facebook — crime-scene tape strung tight across the block, Boston police cruiser lights flooding the street red and blue. (Watch on Facebook)
What we know
- Three people hit by gunfire — one in critical condition and undergoing surgery, two grazed (both refused treatment at the scene)
- A multi-family home struck by gunfire on the second floor
- Boston Police on citywide tactical alert
- BPD homicide detectives activated
- No arrests; Boston Police have said their investigation remains active
Boston Police have not yet released names of the victims, a suspect description, or official details about a motive.
This is a developing story.
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