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Massachusetts - Brockton copes with violent crime spike

By Maureen Boyle, Enterprise staff writer

BROCKTON ? Emmanuel Nieves heard four gunshots outside his Falmouth Avenue apartment and yelled to his girlfriend.

?He told me to go to the wall, go down on the floor,? said Jackie Rivas, Nieves' girlfriend. ?He said, 'You never know where those bullets will go.' ?

Where bullets will strike ? and if innocent bystanders will be hit ? is a growing worry in the city these days.

?These bullets don't exactly have homing devices on them to hit the target they're intended for,? Police Chief William Conlon said.

After a summer free of shooting deaths, eight people have been shot within the past three weeks, including three who died.

Four people were wounded when a gunman fired into a crowd outside a downtown bar, another man returning from the wake of a 22-year-old shot to death Aug. 30 was wounded. Then, within three days, two men were shot in the head and torso and killed while sitting in cars: one on Falmouth Avenue and Waverly Street, the other on Arthur Street last Sunday.

And many fear the violence will escalate in a spiral of retaliation, putting neighborhoods on the verge of renewal at risk.

After a man was fatally wounded near her Waverly Street home , Amada Severino wondered if her family was safe in the house they owned for years.

?I was asking, 'Maybe it is better to sell the house,' ? she said. ?It is sad to think you have to move because you are scared about what may happen on the street.?

Her husband, Wilner Sildor, said he worries about stray bullets hitting his family but they've invested a lot in their home of 12 years ? and in the neighborhood. ?This is my house, this is my neighborhood,? said Sildor, a registered nurse who has been a Haitian radio talk show host.

Monica Ross, head of the North Warren Avenue Crime Watch group, said people worry when they hear gunfire ? even if it's in the distance. ?You don't know where it is coming from,? she said.

For some, the sound of gunfire is so frequent, they get used to it, several said.

?I've talked to some people who say they get used to it,? said Raymond E. Yancey Jr., case manager of the prisoner re-entry program sponsored by the Mount Moriah Baptist Church. ?I have heard some people say they sit on the floor in their house because they are afraid of a stray bullet coming through the window.?

Nieves said he tries not to worry about gunfire but he does worry how it will affect the children in the neighborhood.

?I know it is not a nice place to raise a kid. It is not a good place,? he said.

The motive behind shootings can range from jealousy over a girlfriend to perceived cases of ?disrespect? to battles over drug turf, authorities said.

But the underlying reason for the guns in their hands is simple, Yancey said.

?It is all drug-related,? he said. ?It is because of the drugs and the protection they want. If you are not involved in any kind of crime, you wouldn't think about it, about having the gun.?

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said it is all intertwined. ?Drugs and guns and violence all go together,? he said.

Former prosecutor Joseph Gaughan, who teaches law at Concord Law School and at Stonehill College, said drug wars are at the heart of most shootings.

?It is about drug turf,? he said. ?That is still a good part of it ... You can't come into their territory. It is all about money. They will resort to all it takes to reduce the competition. If it means killing them, that's what they will be doing.?

With each shooting, police brace for another retaliatory round in the ensuing days as investigators battle the clock to try to identify and jail suspects.

?After a shooting, depending on who was shot, you can expect some type of retaliatory shooting. That, unfortunately, is a reality,? Cruz said. ?That is what really makes it so dangerous. You want to get the people responsible off the street as soon as you can.?

Wanting to and doing it can be tough, though.

Victims and witnesses either refuse or are reluctant to cooperate with authorities in many cases.

?They want to take care of it in their own way,? said Lt. John Crowley, chief of Brockton detectives.

Michael Murtagh, a psychology professor at Bridgewater State College, said some people seeking revenge can escalate the situation.

?People want retribution or revenge. We tend to then escalate it up a notch just because we are angry, frustrated or mad. That is how little things can spiral into very big things,? he said. ?The stakes here are far higher now. People now have guns. It is not smacking your brother on the shoulder. Someone is shot. Someone dies.?

Mourners filed behind the casket of James DaRosa, the 22-year-old man killed outside his Clarence Street home Aug. 30, as it was ushered from St. Edith Stein Church earlier this month.

The wail of his mother echoed through the church as his friends ? one wearing a T-shirt bearing DaRosa's name ? tried to comfort each other.

?Hatred builds up enemies,? mourners were told by one woman during the funeral service. ?Let God take things in his own hands.?

Cruz said there are too many times where mourners end up as the mourned in the cycle of retaliation.

?There are people who choose, unfortunately, not to change their lifestyle. They are aware of the consequences. There are two ways you are going to end up: you're dead or you're in jail,? Cruz said.