Boston Mayor Marty Walsh met with community leaders and police for over an hour Friday in an effort to find a way to stem the violence that has shaken the city this week.
An increased number of shooting and stabbing incidents have many in the community concerned about their safety. Walsh joined community leaders and police to help find a solution to the growing violence in the city.
"The conversation really was about how can we solve some of the issues, and how can we resolve the issues without policing, meaning how can we do it with just not depending solely on the police department," Walsh said. "I think we had a very good dialogue here."
Three separate shootings were reported in Dorchester on Thursday. An 18-year-old was killed and a 14-year-old was injured during a shooting on Blue Hill Avenue in Dorchester on Thursday. The incident is believed to be gang-related.
An earlier shooting where a victim was seriously injured happened just after midnight. Another shooting took place around 11 a.m. with one person suffering non-life threatening injuries.
Earlier on Thursday, a 15-year-old was arrested in connection to the stabbing death of an 18-year-old in Dudley Square.
This comes after a fatal stabbing in Roxbury on Wednesday that took a man’s life after an argument.
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Police Commissioner William Evans said even one violent incident like this is too many.
"Obviously, we've had a recent uptick over the last two weeks," Evans said. "We had geared up for July 4th. We had a lot of extra officers out there, but obviously that didn't do the trick. We're working together to see what we weren't doing and where we can improve.
"We had a great discussion. We're going to take a lot of things away from this, and hopefully things will settle down," he added. "Our hearts and souls are into it and hopefully, working together, we'll make the city a quiet place and an enjoyable place for the rest of the summer."
