Page 8 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, July 21, 2023 MEETING | FROM PAGE 2 quickly pulled into the private roadway beside the Irish American Club (where the public safety meeting was being held) and lined up behind each other. These vehicles were occupied by a group of nearly all Malden residents in their late teens. “We have identified all of them and they were all interviewed at the Malden Police Station since the incident. We have had most of their parents at the station as well to explain the incident and the seriousness of what happened,” Chief Cronin told the audience. Minutes after the local teens pulled into the Davidson Way Road, according to police, what is believed to be a single vehicle pulled right off the Fellsway and raced east down Emerald Street toward West Street. When the vehicle got near the parked vehicles next to the park, “someone began firing off a bunch of [gunshot] rounds indiscriminately. By a stroke of luck, no one was injured.” According to reports, there were gunshot holes in at least one of the vehicles, though no one was reported injured in the drive-by shooting. Chief Cronin confirmed the local teens have been frequenting the same spot at Devir Park since summer began and have been going into the park and playing games involving toy guns with water pellets. “We confiscated all of that from their vehicles, and that type of activity will not be allowed moving forward,” said Chief Cronin. The Chief also said the police presence near the park and in the neighborhood will be increased moving forward and that the area all around the park will be cleared for the night at 10 p.m. This protocol is being enforced nightly in all of the city’s parks and playgrounds, which has already been in place, the Chief said. Chief Cronin noted that the investigation into the drive-by shooting is ongoing. “We are planning another round of interviews with the local kids at the scene that night.” He mentioned an incident in Revere on July 4 involving “over 100 people” on July 4, which he said was part of the investigation as to seeing if it had any relation to the Malden shooting. In that Revere incident, a Malden resident was arrested on gun charges. “We are checking out all possibilities, and if anyone has any information about any part of this case, please contact us,” Chief Cronin said. Chief Cronin also cited specific crime statistics from Ward 2 in the past six months and also the past year, noting there has been either a decrease or a complete absence of various crimes, particularly those designated as violent crimes in the Edgeworth neighborhood. Residents asked about 15 questions, mostly about details of the case that the Police Chief and Mayor had explained, and several were asking if the Emerald Street shooting was related to two other shootings around the city this summer: at Overlook Ridge Apartments on the evening of June 18 and on July 9 in Malden Square outside New York Pizza on a Sunday afternoon. The two city officials stressed none of the incidents were related, none of them were random and that suspects were arrested in each case within one day of those shooting incidents. Also, everyone involved in those two incidents, one of which took place in the lobby of one of the Overlook Ridge apartment buildings, did not involve any Malden residents. The two shooting victims, one from each incident, were not Malden residents, either. Mayor Christenson and Chief Cronin had strong words against the court system at the meeting, when touching on the two other unrelated shootings, both explaining that neither suspect should have been on the street, due to their involvement in previous crimes out of the city of Malden. (See separate story.) Councillor Condon, the Chief and the Mayor all thanked those in attendance and encouraged and solicited those who came to “continue to be our eyes and ears in the community” and “if you see anything or need assistance, please contact the Malden Police Department.” The Malden Police general reporting number is 1-800-322-1212. For Advertising with Results, call The Advocate Newspapers at 617-387-2200 or Info@advocatenews.net J& • Reliable Mowing Service • Spring & Fall Cleanups • Mulch & Edging • Sod or Seed Lawns • Shrub Planting & Trimming • Water & Sewer Repairs Joe Pierotti, Jr. S LANDSCAPE & MASONRY CO. Masonry - Asphalt • Brick or Block Steps • Brick or Block Walls • Concrete or Brick Paver Patios & Walkways • Brick Re-Pointing • Asphalt Paving www.JandSlandscape-masonry.com • Senior Discount • Free Estimates • Licensed & Insured 617-389-1490 Designing and Constructing Ideas that are “Grounds for Success” Landscaping SHOOTINGS | FROM PAGE 1 April 2022. "The court system dropped the ball. Somehow, they ruled this suspect did not pose a dangerous threat and he was out pending trial on a bracelet," Malden Police Chief Glenn Cronin said at an Emergency Public Safety Meeting held for an unrelated shooting in Ward 2 on July 13."But because he was a danger, he came to Malden (on July 9) and shot somebody." Chief Cronin was referring to Jefferson Barillas, 20, who apparently lives in Malden and Lynn, who was arrested by Malden Police nine hours after he allegedly shot a 31-year-old victim on Main Street outside of New York Pizza in broad daylight in the middle of Malden Square. Barillas was arrested by Malden Police at a Pearl Street, Malden residence just before midnight in connection with the July 9 shooting, arraigned in Malden District Court, held without bail and then remanded to a dangerousness hearing the following week. Rendered dangerous to the community at large at the hearing, Barillas has continued to be held without bail in a Middlesex jail. Barillas was 18 years when he was arrested in April 2022, four days after he allegedly shot an innocent bystander, a 68-year-old grandmother who was crossing a busy Chelsea Street who happened to be near where Barillas was allegedly shooting at another victim. In Suffolk Court, Barillas was charged on April 27, 2022 with assault with intent to murder on a person over 60, assault and battery with a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling.ADA Myriam Feliz handled the arraignment.According to reports, he was released on an ankle bracelet after a May 2 dangerousness hearing He is now accused of being the shooter in the Malden Square incident, strikingly similar since it took place in broad daylight, on a sunny weekend afternoon, with an allegedly masked Barillas shooting at an intended target. This time Barillas allegedly hit who he was intending to shoot, in an apparent drug-related incident. The victim, 31, was not a Malden resident, neither was Barillas listed as such, though he was arrested at a Malden home later that evening. "They (Malden Police) are finding them, and they are arresting them... and the court system is letting them back on the street," Mayor Gary Christenson said of suspects in Malden incidents, at the July 13 meeting. "It's demoralizing and it's a credit to our police officers and detectives that they don't let it affect them. "They're (Malden Police) putting them in jail and they're finding their way back out," the Mayor said. "We have suspects with 50, 60, even 70 prior occurrences and they're back out. "There are flaws in the system and when it comes to gun violence, there shouldn't be flaws," Mayor Christenson added. In another recent shooting, where a woman was seriously injured with life-threatening injuries in the lobby of an Overlook Ridge apartment building, the suspect arrested two days after the incident in that shooting, Mohamed Abdulaziz, 35, no address given, also had a lengthy prior record, the Mayor said. "The incident at Overlook? He should never have been on the street. (He had) a record as far as you see," the Mayor said of Abdulaziz, who is charged in the June 18 shooting with armed assault with intent to murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, carrying a firearm without a license and possession of ammunition. "There are laws on the books that anyone caught with an illegal gun is supposed to face a minimum mandatory prison sentence. That's not happening and that's a major issue," Mayor Christenson said. "Anytime you see a state legislator or one of our federal reps in Congress or the Senate, please tell them you are concerned about this." "None of them from the Overlook Ridge incident were from Malden. None of them lived there, they were all from the Boston area from some incident that spilled over into Malden. There were no Malden connections," Chief Cronin said. "The suspect charged and some of the others that were investigated since they were present, were from Mattapan, Dorchester, Roxbury and they all had (arrest) records from here to Bismark, North Dakota." Both the Chief and Mayor said that while the situation with the court system was frustrating, it would not keep them and the police department from their duties. "We are not letting up and we will continue our mission, which is to keep the citizens of the Malden community safe," Chief Cronin said.
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