Child among dead in Boston shooting

AN early morning shooting in Boston left a toddler and three other people dead, and a fifth person was hospitalised and not expected to survive, police said yesterday.

There have been no arrests, and police have asked for the public’s help.

Police responded to the city’s Mattapan neighbourhood just after 1am, Commissioner Edward Davis said.

Two men and a woman found in the street were pronounced dead at the scene. The toddler, aged either two or three, died later at the hospital, police department spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said. A man in his 30s was taken to a hospital and is not expected to survive, she said.

No names were released, and it was too early to speculate on a motive, Driscoll said. “Right now, it’s an extremely active homicide investigation,” she said.

Investigators think the victims knew the shooter.

Police are looking for a silver or grey Ford Explorer that may be connected to the shooting.

Police recovered a “significant amount of evidence” at the scene, Davis said, without being specific.

The shooting was the latest in a spike of violence in the city that has frustrated, police, politicians and community leaders. There had been 50 homicides in the city this year, up from 40 in the same period last year.