Terrifying moment gunman opens fire on Boston street in broad daylight

Two gunmen were filmed opening fire on a Boston sidewalk in broad daylight, sending children running for cover in terror.

The chaotic scene erupted on a pavement in Roxbury where passers-by spent their day until an unidentified man wearing a red hoodie and black trousers opened fire at around 6.45pm on Wednesday.

A group of people were seen rushing into the path of the bullets, including a little girl, as another unidentified gunman wearing a brown hoodie fired back.

About 20 bullets were fired at the sidewalk that houses several businesses, according to Boston 25 News.

No injuries were reported and no arrests were made.

The shooting was one of many in the city that shook residents. Another gunman opened fire on Tuesday while standing in the middle of an intersection near Boulevard Gallivan, according to the outlet.

But the violence began on Monday when Haverhill pastor Danny Mayers, 33, was shot dead outside Frederick Middle School.

It is unclear whether Mayers was targeted, but police found him shot in a car.

Open investigations led Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox to address the rapid rise in crime on Thursday.

“We’re here and we care,” Cox said, according to WHDH. “From our point of view, people have to understand that this is a safe city. We can be safer with the help of the public.

Officials also said Thursday that shootings have declined in the city this year, but the number of casualties has increased, according to NBC Boston.

To combat the growing number of shootings, officials plan to spend $19 million to keep people away from crime by providing summer jobs and plotting against illegal activities, such as illegal ATVs.

Several people, including a little girl, were seen scrambling for cover as the bullets were fired

Twenty bullets were fired on the sidewalk which houses several businesses

In addition to fighting crime, Cox has worked strategically over the past year to reform the police department.

According to the police department’s website, the reforms focus on community engagement, trust, transparency and improving all aspects of policing.

Cox has emphasized proactive outreach and worked to provide safety resources to the LGBTQ+ community in the face of threats.

Other police department reforms include diversifying the workforce by hiring more black, Indigenous and people of color.

While the rate of gunshot victims appears to be rising in Boston, other US cities are seeing an increase in homicides.

Memphis, New Orleans and Richmond rank among the homicide hotspots in the United States, with academics linking their rising murder rates to lenient Democratic leadership on crime and low police morale.

A study by WalletHub found that murder rates jumped by a tenth in the nation’s largest cities between the first quarter of 2001 and the same period this year – and they’re still rising.

The researchers said murder rates began to rise during the Covid-19 pandemic and found that Democratic-run cities suffered from faster rates of increase than their Republican counterparts.

WalletHub researchers found that murder rates jumped by a tenth in the nation’s largest cities between the first quarter of 2001 and the same period this year.

The number of child gunshot deaths rose from 1,732 to 2,590 – the highest number since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began counting deaths in 1999

The researchers ranked the cities by adding up their homicide rates over the first three months of 2023 and comparing those numbers to the same time periods in 2021 and 2022.

Memphis, New Orleans, Richmond, Washington DC, Detroit, Durham, Dallas. Milwaukee, Las Vegas and Kansas City are ranked as the worst homicide hotspots in the United States.

New York came in 36th and Los Angeles 38th.

Norfolk, Omaha, Atlanta, Fort Worth and Raleigh ranked near the bottom of the list of hardest-hit major cities.

Cities with Democratic mayors had faster rising murder rates than those with a Republican leader, the researchers found.