Police report shooting Jamaica Plain vehicle
No one was hit, officials say
Authorities are investigating after Boston police shot into a vehicle before it drove away Tuesday in Jamaica Plain.
The shooting occurred around 7:53 p.m. on Wachusett Street, Police Deputy Superintendent James Miller said Tuesday at a briefing at the scene.
Miller said officers were conducting an investigation at 218 Wachusett St. when they fired “into a vehicle.”
The driver fled the area. The unoccupied car was later recovered on Weld Hill Street.
“We have canvassed the area,” Miller said. “We’ve contacted the hospitals, and as of right now, [in the] preliminary stages of the investigation, we believe that no one has been hit” by gunfire.
Asked how many shots police fired, Miller said “we’re determining that now.”
He didn’t elaborate on the nature of the investigation that brought police to the area. Asked if the shooting began as a traffic stop, he said “we’re looking into that now.”
According to recordings of the conversations between officers and dispatchers posted on Broadcastify.com, an officer identified by the call sign of Lima 101 had pulled over a red SUV with out-of-state plates on a side street in Hyde Park.
“We had a red SUV take off on us. Out-of-state tags,’’ the officer said. “We are not pursuing. Just for officer safety. Going at a high rate of speed. White male operating the vehicle.”
Fifteen minutes later, the officer went back on the air to report that a “303” had taken place. The number refers to the chapter in the police department rule book that covers the use of deadly force by officers.
“Unknown if he was shot,” the officer said. “He drove the car directly at me.”
He said no officers were injured during the incident.
The driver remained at large early Wednesday afternoon, police said.
On Wednesday, Tim Hoey, who grew up on Wachusett Street and lived there for roughly 30 years, said he was driving in the area and decided to check in on the old neighborhood.
Hoey, 62, described the area as “just the nicest little neighborhood you could ever imagine.”
“It’s shocking to everybody,” he told reporters.
One neighbor who identified himself only by his first name, Joe, said he was shocked by the shooting.
He said the neighborhood has grown quieter in recent years and that he was initially “oblivious” to what had happened when he saw the police presence on the street Tuesday night.