DORCHESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Residents in the Dorchester community were shocked and devastated after a teenager was shot and killed near a playground in Boston Wednesday night.
According to Boston Police, Curtis Ashford Jr., 15, was shot and killed near the Erie Ellington playground sometime after 7:30 p.m.
“He’s a kid, he didn’t deserve that. I don’t think any kid deserves that. That’s just heartbreaking,” said Dorchester resident Dale Deeble.
Ashford had just graduated from middle school earlier this summer. According to New Democracy Coalition founder Reverend Kevin Peterson, parents should not have to worry about the threat of gun violence on their children’s playgrounds.
“This playground is meant for the kids, but all the gun violence. It’s kind of hard for bringing your kids out here,” said Peterson. “Every families’ heart in some way is broken.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden raised community concerns about violence in the city in a press conference Wednesday night.
“I am deeply devastated,” said Wu. “When we see the loss of life, particularly a young child, we are all robbed of the potential, the life that was ahead of this young person.”
“We need to do everything we can to wrap around and support the young men and women that are out here dealing with trauma, dealing with this violence,” said Hayden. “We have to get ahold of the guns that are on our street and in our young people’s hands, so that hopefully, we won’t have another one of these happen again.”
The investigation into the identity of the shooter is active and ongoing.
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