Community Seeks Unity With Rising Murder Rates in Roxbury, Massachusetts

Roxbury neighborhood has had three murders in past week

The community of Roxbury, Massachusetts, is seeking unity after three people were killed in the neighborhood in the last week.

Since last Thursday, Boston Police said one man was shot to death near the corner of Zeigler and Deaborn Streets, another man was killed in a drive-by shooting on Cleaves court, and a wife murdered her husband with a knife in a Mission Hill apartment.

Investigators say no arrests have been made in any of the cases and there are no motives.

Ernest Bridges says his son was nearly killed, in an apparent drive by shooting at the Academy Homes in Jackson Square. He survived.

“He needs to learn how to walk over, he needs speech therapy,” Bridges said.

In response to the killings, and a random shooting over the weekend of a 9-year-old girl at a birthday party in Roxbury, several dozen community members like Drew Carpenter, gathered in Dudley Square on Tuesday evening.

“We can curb some of the gun violence through parenting, community coming together with law enforcement,” Carpenter said.

So far, Boston has had 33 homicides so far this year, compared to 28 at this time in 2015.

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