DORCHESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Community leaders are calling for drastic, immediate change after Boston police were called to three deadly shootings in less than a week, including the city’s sixth shooting death of 2023 on Tuesday night.
At least one faith leader said Mayor Michelle Wu isn’t doing enough to help.
“We need a new mayor because this is a disgrace and she’s ducking and dodging the issue,” Rev. Eugene Rivers said.
Rev. Dr. Gregory Groover of Charles Street AME Church separately said “We’re seeing things at a level that we’ve never seen before.”
Groover spoke while gathered with other faith leaders in Dorchester Wednesday morning, holding a weekly community meeting with members of the Boston Police Department to discuss crime.
The meeting was held hours after the city’s most recent deadly shooting – an incident in Dorchester where police say a man was found dead on Wilrose Street and another was rushed to the hospital.
Days earlier, Diva Ayuso, a 32-year-old mother from Sharon, Mass., was shot and killed in Dorchester. Her family said she was in the area to get a car fixed and spend time with her family and friends when the shooting happened Saturday night.
That same weekend, another person was killed after being shot outside of a bar in Roxbury on Tremont Street. Another victim was also wounded in the shooting.
“We are, as a community, deeply shaken if not traumatized by the steady gun killings that take place from week to week in our city,” Groover told reporters on Wednesday.
Faith leaders told 7NEWS they are now calling on one another to come together to help find solutions.
“What we called for here today was the mobilization of the faith communities,” Rivers said. “We need the Jewish, Episcopalian, Roman Catholic and Black churches coming together.”
The city of Boston responded to recent criticism with a statement.
“In the moments immediately following a serious act of violence, senior City officials are on scene to connect those impacted with resources such as the City’s Neighborhood Trauma Team,” a spokesperson said. “Each and every day the City is working closely alongside our public safety officials and neighborhood partners to intervene before violence occurs.”
The city said such work “requires a coordinated approach,” saying officials “will continue to dedicate the full weight of all city departments across all neighborhoods to keep our residents safe.”
All three shootings remain under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to contact police at (617) 343-4470.
Community members wishing to assist anonymously can do so by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).
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