Evans praises ‘restraint’ as suspects are nabbed

Police Commissioner William B. Evans voiced gratitude yesterday, recounting how officers took down two gun-toting suspects in violent tussles 30 minutes apart early yesterday morning — without a single shot fired.

“Thank God,” Evans said of the incidents in Roxbury and at Winthrop Square downtown that netted the arrests of two men. “Clearly, when you’re pulling a gun out with an officer there, the officer would be justified defending himself. A lot of good restraint was used in both cases.

“For years ... we’ve been teaching de-escalation,” Evans said. “It’s one thing to be justified. But is it necessary?”

Police investigating the sound of gunfire charged Tarell Wheeler, 24, of Roxbury with weapon, drug and resisting arrest charges after they say he pulled a silver revolver from his waistband when they approached him about 1:30 a.m. yesterday on Fenno Street and he initially refused to show his hands.

The firearm fell from Wheeler’s hand only after one officer tackled him into a car. Police said Wheeler continued to fight them. Two plastic bags believed to be crack cocaine were recovered from his person.

Then, at 2 a.m. near the Financial District, police were hunting for a man they were told had flashed a firearm during a fight.

They found themselves grappling with Eugene Adams, 33, of Dorchester. Adams, they said, was armed with a loaded RAP-440 semi-automatic.

Police chased Adams on foot. While struggling to subdue him, they reported feeling a hard metal object in his jacket pocket they knew to be a gun.

Charges against Adams include unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm and resisting arrest.