Recent Shootings Stun Cambridge

Dramatic increases in murder and violent crime in Cambridge in recent months—including three shootings in the Area 4 neighborhood in the last month alone—has sent shock and fear through the community, several residents said last night.

Members of the Area 4 community said they were afraid and frustrated after the recent violence, and that they would not stand for further violence in their neighborhood.

“Having the largest number of low-income people is not a reason why we have to tolerate or live with this violence,” said councillor E. Denise Simmons, who lives in Area 4.

At an emergency city council meeting at Fletcher-Maynard Academy on Windsor Street—the same street where one man was killed this month—community members confronted city officials about crime and public safety.

Area 4 resident Ricardo Sean Williams died on June 17 after being shot in the head in his car on Windsor Street, in what police have described as a drive-by shooting.

Earlier this month, two men were injured in a nonfatal shooting in the same neighborhood.

Two more deaths around nightlife in the nearby Central Square have occurred in recent months.

19-year-old Mattapan resident Iran Gray was killed in an early-morning shooting outside the Rhythm and Spice Restaurant in Central Square in April. Two months later, the police have made no arrests related to the shooting.

Last week, college students Sean Howard and Andrew Power-Koch went out to a Central Square bar. A fight between the two friends resulted in Howard’s death in West Cambridge, and later the arrest of Power-Koch for the manslaughter of Howard, said Police Commissioner Ronnie Watson.

There is no reason to believe that any of the incidents of violence are related, Watson said.

Watson said that active investigations were going on related to the recent violence, and that he looked forward to meeting with community members.

“I think with the help of the community, we can turn everything around,” he said.

Police distributed information to people at the Area 4 meeting, including the phone number of their anonymous tip line. Several community members said they regretted not contacting the police in the past when they saw drug activity in the neighborhood, but said they would contact the police in the future.

Loitering, drinking, drug dealing and urination in the streets are major problems in Central Square that spill over into Area 4, said Regina Jones, a resident of the Washington Elms public housing in the neighborhood. Central Square is home to a homeless shelter, two liquor stores and many of Cambridge’s bars.

Jones said that the sale of alcohol at two Mass. Ave. liquor stores contributed to crime in Area 4.

These problems of violence, guns and drugs are the same that have plagued the neighborhood since the 1960s, said Jacquie Adams, a member of the Cambridge Housing Authority who lives in Area 4. Adams described how over the years drug dealers had operated out of different street corners, but had always been in the neighborhood.

City councillors discussed how violent crime is related to other factors such as drugs, employment, guns and even poor street lighting, and how city services can help prevent people from turning to crime.

Councillor Anthony D. Galluccio said that young people need to be a greater focus for city employment services so they do not end up engaged in dangerous criminal activities.

“These are our kids who are out there,” he said. “They’re not hard-core kids. They’re average kids.”

Adams disagreed, saying that most of people dealing drugs on the street were not known to anyone in the community.

After the council meeting last night, people gathered in Central Square in the rain to demonstrate community unity in the face of violence. School committee member Richard Harding Jr. organized the rally.

—Staff writer Stephanie M. Skier can be reached at skier@fas.harvard.edu.