Young man critically injured in Dorchester shooting

DORCHESTER, Mass. — A young man was critically injured in a shooting in a residential neighborhood of Dorchester Wednesday, according to Boston police and the Suffolk County District Attorney.

Boston police say they responded to a shooting on Melville Ave., around 5:15 p.m., and found a male suffering from life-threatening injuries.

Sources tell Boston 25 News police saw a young man on a scooter firing shots. Sources also say police are investigating the possibility that male accidentally shot himself in the head while fleeing from the scene.

Residents, many walking with children in strollers, expressed shock and fear.

“I’m surprised. I’m shocked. I still don’t know what to make of it,” said Esteban Esquivel, returning from work to the scene. “I hope that he’s able to recover. I feel for his family and what they’re going through.”

Speaking to reporters in the neighborhood Wednesday night, District Attorney Kevin Hayden blamed illegal guns for both the Dorchester incident and a Monday shooting near Charlestown High School that abruptly cancelled the class of 2022′s graduation ceremony before anyone had received their diploma.

“We have now in two days two shootings in broad daylight, one right before graduation at Charlestown High School and then here today right in the center of Codman square,” Hayden said. “This has got to be a concern for everyone in society that this is going on. It’s unacceptable. We need a societal response. It’s outrageous, and we need our communities and our society and all of our people from boardrooms to backyards to come together to try to find a solution to this problem.”

Investigators kept crime scene tape around a portion of the neighborhood until just before 10 p.m., as they spoke to witnesses and canvassed the neighborhood looking for video.

Police did not say whether there were any arrests or any other people believed to be involved.

An update on the young man’s condition was not available Wednesday night.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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