The Cary Square area had enjoyed several weeks without incident, but that changed early Friday morning when gunshots rang out on Lafayette Avenue. One bullet pierced through a window at Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home, eventually lodging in the facility’s foyer.
At around 2:03 a.m., an officer heard shots near Washington Avenue and Spruce Street. Within approximately 30 seconds, Dispatch received a ShotSpotter Activation reporting six rounds fired at 22 Lafayette Ave., located directly at the top of the city stairs and across from the Chelsea Jewish Nursing Home parking lot.
Officers responding to the scene discovered a 9mm shell casing near the City Stairs and identified a bullet hole through a double pane window at the nursing home. The projectile was subsequently retrieved from the ceiling of an unoccupied lobby area inside the building.
No one was injured in the incident.
Acting on a 9-1-1 report, police pursued information that three individuals had exited a vehicle and entered a building at 44 Lafayette St. The vehicle was located, and officers also found an intoxicated 16-year-old female outside the building, who was taken into protective custody.
Following a period of surveillance, two males emerged from the building and approached the vehicle. One of them was the vehicle’s renter.
A search of the vehicle yielded no weapon. A K-9 search of the surrounding area also failed to locate either a weapon or additional suspects.
Detectives have pursued the case further and are examining video surveillance footage from multiple locations throughout the area.
Both the bullet and shell casing were sent for testing to determine whether the firearm had been involved in any other reported incidents.
The Waltham and Malden Police Departments have been notified and are assisting with the investigation into the two men in the rental vehicle.
According to police, the department has conducted numerous impact patrols in the neighborhood over recent weeks following a well-attended community meeting held at St. Luke’s Church.
Recent patrols in the Lafayette and City Stairs area have documented no criminal activity.