Brighton teen dies in Halloween shootout
A shootout at a Jamaica Plain housing project Halloween night left a Brighton High School teen dead, authorities said.
“There were two groups arguing. From what I understand, there was an exchange of gunfire between the groups when he got hit. It’s a tragedy,” said police Commissioner William B. Evans.
The 16-year-old boy was identified by family and friends as Gerrod Brown. Cops said Brown was the fourth youth between the ages of 13 and 17 slain in Boston this year.
Evans told the Herald yesterday the shooting left shell casings strewn all over Parker Street in the Mildred C. Hailey Apartments, formerly the Bromley-Heath public housing.
Two beat cops heard the gunshots shortly before midnight and ran to the side of the fatally wounded teen.
“They were right there when the shots went off, and they’re the two that went over and gave CPR. Both of them were trying to save the kid’s life,” Evans said.
As of yesterday afternoon, the city has seen 47 homicides, a 17.5 percent increase over the same period last year when there were 40 slayings, police said.
Domingos DaRosa, Brown’s youth football coach for the Boston Bengals, called the versatile player a “charismatic leader.”
“He’s one (who) with the right guidance could have been anything he wanted to be,” DaRosa said, adding that he believes “whoever pulled the trigger wasn’t intentionally aiming for him.”
Relatives and loved ones gathered at the housing complex yesterday around a makeshift memorial of candles. Most declined comment except for saying the teen was a “good kid” who was struck by an errant bullet.
“That boy don’t bother nobody. I’m just upset; this is not right. This shouldn’t have happened. That’s my nephew,” said Clarence Irby.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh called the boy’s death a “horrible situation” and stressed more needs to be done to get guns off the street.
City Councilor Tito Jackson, who is challenging Walsh in the mayoral election, said Walsh and the Boston Police Department have to step up.
“We have a state of emergency in the city of Boston,” Jackson said. “We have to deal with this issue with urgency. We lost part of our future last night. We lose part of our future every single time a young person is killed in our city. This is unacceptable.”