Residents shaken up following fatal shooting near TD Garden

BOSTON — Residents in Boston are still shaken up after a 25-year-old man was gunned down last week near the TD Garden.

In what police are calling an attempted robbery, Fouad Baghdad was shot and killed at close range on Canal Street after leaving a bar with friends.

"Probably I’d say it was random," said Shawn Smith, a regular who goes to TD Garden.

According to authorities, 22-year-old Bryan Rice tried to rob Baghdad of the gold chain he'd been wearing around his neck when the shooting happened.

"This area is going downhill, this street in particular," said Bria O'Neill, who lives in the area.

>> Suspects charged in fatal Canal Street to face a judge Monday

Rice and the alleged getaway driver, 24-year-old Anthony Baptista-Goncalves, were both arrested by Boston Police not far from where Baghdad was shot. Officials say they found a firearm in the car.

Rice and Baptista-Goncalves were arraigned on Monday and held without bail. 

"I live on the 5th floor and heard it from my apartment, I was up at night, I just got home [and] I heard like the shot," said Martin Gonzalez, who lives in the area. "It could’ve been me, it’s a pretty scary thought."

Gonzalez, who has lived on Canal Street for four years, says he's noticed a continuing increase in the number of people who congregate outside the bars at closing time. He attributes it to the booming developments in the area, which have brought new bars, restaurants and other attractions to the West End.

"There’s a lot of different people here now, there’s all the bars, the clubs, the games," said Gonzalez. "When you have an area with a lot of people anything can happen, you just have to have the right presence to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future [and] keep the people safe around here."

Boston District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn says he’s conveyed these concerns to the Boston Police Captain, who oversees the area.

>> Man dead after being shot on Canal Street, two people charged

Flynn also met with neighbors and businesses on Monday to listen to what they had to say.

"We want to work hard to make sure that we have the necessary police protection in that area, especially as the neighborhood is being developed," said Flynn. "We want to make sure that we have the right number of police in the area."

Despite the unsettled feeling shared by residents, investigators say this weekend's shooting was an isolated incident.

A Boston Police spokesman said the department staffs accordingly and has plenty of resources deployed to the area, matching the amount of people it attracts.

Fouad Baghdad will be laid to rest tomorrow.

A family friend says Baghdad had only one selfless wish for the future, and that was to buy his father and mother a home.

The shooting comes nearly two months after a man was stabbed in the same area. The victim suffered life-threatening injuries, but is recovering.

>> 2 men held without bail in fatal shooting over gold chain near TD Garden

Cox Media Group