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“Every time a gun is illegally fired in our neighborhoods, it creates the risk of death or serious injury for innocent people," said Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan. "In these cases, officers recovered 60 shell casings resulting from the 60 shots fired in congested areas, this type of chaos creating violence simply cannot go unaddressed. I have assigned multiple prosecutors to work with our police partners to identify the perpetrators. I urge the public to join us in putting an end to this dangerous behavior by providing any information that they may have to the police."
The first shooting was reported on June 10 in Somerville, when a man said he was watching television on his couch when someone fired two bullets through the wall of his living room.
Sebastian LePage, 25, of Somerville, was arrested and charged with the shooting, the prosecutor said. The gun was reported stolen from Reading, and LePage is being held without bail.
There were three more unrelated shootings on June 26.
Police recovered 33 shell casings from two different weapons on Summer Street outside of Union Square in Somerville. They found bullets in a car and embedded in four homes. Officers believe they could have used automatic weapons, the prosecutor said.
A man was shot inside a vehicle that same day on East Albion Street in Medford. He was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.
Again, on June 26, Cambridge police responded to reports of gunfire at Newtowne Court. Investigators found six bullet cases in an area where multiple people had been seen earlier, the prosecutor said. Those shots may have been fired into the air.
On July 4, Cambridge police responded to two more shootings. The first was reported just before 10 p.m. on Clark Street. Officers found six bullet casings.
Moments later, there were reports of shots on Washington Street, where 15 casings of a different caliber were recovered. There were multiple people in the area at the time of that shooting, the prosecutor said.
Ryan is working with Rep. Marjorie C. Decker to create a new felony offense to address instances where a shooter acts “without regard for the risk of serious bodily injury to another” but shoots intentionally or recklessly and “hereby causes a substantial risk of serious bodily injury."
The bill is awaiting approval in the state legislature.
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