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  • 16-Year-Old Dies, Others Injured in a Shooting at a Large House Party in Northborough

    16-Year-Old Dies, Others Injured in a Shooting at a Large House Party in Northborough

    NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — A 16-year-old died and several other people were injured in a shooting at a large house party in the central Massachusetts town of Northborough early Sunday morning, authorities said.

    Three people were arrested on firearms-related charges and will be arraigned on Monday, authorities said.

    A partygoer flagged down a police officer shortly after 1 a.m. and said someone at the property had brandished a gun, authorities said. When officers arrived at the property, they heard multiple gunshots.

    Police encountered a chaotic scene, with about 300 people at the party, said Worchester County District Attorney Joseph Early.

    The 16-year-old was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, Early said. Another shooting victim, a 17-year-old male, and two other people were treated at the hospital and released, he said. Several others with visible injuries were treated at the scene but declined to be taken to the hospital.

    Authorities are asking anyone with information or cell phone video from the scene to contact the Northborough police.

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Massachusetts Police Bust Burglary Ring That Stole $4 Million in Jewels Over Six Years

    Massachusetts Police Bust Burglary Ring That Stole $4 Million in Jewels Over Six Years

    BOSTON (AP) — A burglary ring that allegedly stole more than $4 million worth of jewelry mostly from the homes of South Asians in over two dozen communities has been broken up, the Massachusetts State Police said.

    Four people, including two brothers, were indicted April 18 after a nine-month investigation on 95 counts of unarmed burglary and breaking and entering a dwelling house in the daytime with intent to commit a felony.

    Police on Friday said the Providence-based theft crew broke into homes in 25 Massachusetts communities between July 21, 2018 and March 30. Police say the gang targeted South Asian homes because they thought they would have more jewelry.

    Among the stolen jewels, police said, were diamonds and other gems worth $75,000 each as well as gold bracelets, necklaces, earrings and cash. On several occasions, the gang stole locked safes weighing hundreds of pounds with the jewelry inside.

    “The defendants in this case were very sophisticated. They targeted victims based on their ethnicity and then gathered information about their targets in order to strike when families were not at home,” Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said in a statement. “They were disciplined in concealing their identity, avoiding alarms and minimizing cell phone use before, during and after the breaks and using Wi-Fi jammers.”

    Lt. Col. Mark Cyr, commander of the Massachusetts State Police Division of Homeland Security, said the theft crew stole “countless items of great monetary, emotional, and cultural value from families in multiple states, and did so by violating the sanctity of their homes.”

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    “Such brazen criminal actions will not be tolerated in our communities,” he added. “This investigation highlights the dedication of our law enforcement partners to work collaboratively to take down complex criminal networks.”

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Former MIT Researcher Who Killed Yale Graduate Student Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison

    Former MIT Researcher Who Killed Yale Graduate Student Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison

    Qinxuan Pan, 33, who pleaded guilty to murder in February, apologized during a hearing in a New Haven courtroom packed with family and friends of the victim, Kevin Jiang.

    “I feel sorry for what my actions caused and for everyone affected,” Pan said. “I fully accept my penalties.”

    Jiang, 26, a U.S. Army veteran who grew up in Chicago and a graduate student at Yale’s School of the Environment, had just left his fiancée’s apartment in New Haven on the evening of Feb. 6, 2021, when he was shot multiple times by Pan, according to police and prosecutors. The couple had just gotten engaged days earlier.

    Several of Jiang’s relatives and friends spoke in court before the judge handed down the sentence, which Pan agreed to as part of his plea bargain.

    “My son was a remarkable young man who cherished life and held deep (belief) in God. He had a bright future ahead — one that promised to spread God’s love far and wide,” said Jiang’s father, Mingchen Jiang.

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    A motive for the killing was never made entirely clear. Investigators said they discovered that Pan and Jiang’s fiancée were connected on social media and had met while at MIT, where both had graduated from and where Pan was working as a researcher at the time of the shooting.

    According to the documents, Jiang’s fiancée told authorities she and Pan “never had a romantic or sexual relationship, they were just friends, but she did get a feeling that he was interested in her during that time.”

    After the shooting, Pan fled the scene and eluded police for three months before being apprehended in Alabama, where officials said he was caught living under a fake name with $19,000 in cash, a passport and several cellphones.

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • House Fire in Boston Kills 1, Injures Several Others and Damages Multiple Buildings

    House Fire in Boston Kills 1, Injures Several Others and Damages Multiple Buildings

    BOSTON (AP) — A house fire that spread to multiple buildings in Boston on Tuesday killed one person and injured several others, officials said.

    The blaze was reported about 5 a.m. at a multifamily home in the East Boston neighborhood. Firefighters used ladder trucks to rescue five people as the fire spread to at least two other buildings, authorities said.

    Fire officials said a child was among six people and a firefighter who were brought to hospitals. One person had life-threatening injuries, and the firefighter had a minor injury, authorities said. The conditions of the other injured people were not immediately released.

    About 30 people were displaced from their homes, and damages were estimated at around $5 million, city officials said.

    “It’s incredibly heartbreaking to feel what the family must be feeling, and we will do whatever we can at the city level to support all those who are displaced or are going to need some time recovering in the hospital,” Mayor Michelle Wu said at a morning news conference.

    The cause of the fire was under investigation.

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    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • 2nd Man Pleads Not Guilty to Massachusetts Shooting Deaths of Woman and Her 11-Year-Old Daughter

    2nd Man Pleads Not Guilty to Massachusetts Shooting Deaths of Woman and Her 11-Year-Old Daughter

    WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting a mother and daughter in Massachusetts as they were sitting in a parked SUV has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, nearly three weeks after he was arrested in California.

    Dejan Belnavis, 27, was ordered held without bail at his arraignment Friday in Worcester. He was arrested March 11 in San Diego in connection with the March 5 deaths of Chasity Nuñez, 27, and her daughter, Zella Nuñez, 11.

    Belnavis faces a hearing May 2.

    He is the second man to be charged in the deaths. Karel Mangual, 28, was arrested in Worcester on March 6 and has pleaded not guilty. He too is being held without bail and his next hearing is scheduled for April 12.

    Police said in court documents that surveillance video shows “the victims parked in their vehicle and that two people walk up to the vehicle and start shooting.” Video also shows a car consistent with a witness description circling the area before the shooting and leaving afterward, the documents said. The vehicle was later found in Hartford, Connecticut.

    Authorities have not released a potential motive for the killings or said whether there was any relationship between the men and the victims.

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    Chasity Nunez was a member of the Connecticut National Guard and worked as patient safety and clinical quality coordinator at MIT Healthcare Innovation, according to her obituary. She also had a younger daughter.

    Zella Nunez was a sixth-grade student at Columbus Park School in Worcester who “wanted to dabble in everything from painting, singing, dancing to skating,” the obituary said.

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • A Decade After Deaths of 2 Boston Firefighters, Senators Pass Bill to Toughen Oversight

    A Decade After Deaths of 2 Boston Firefighters, Senators Pass Bill to Toughen Oversight

    BOSTON (AP) — A decade after two firefighters died when they became trapped in a brownstone in Boston’s historic Back Bay neighborhood by a fire caused by sparks from welders working next door, the Massachusetts Senate passed a bill Thursday aimed at toughening oversight of so-called “hot work.”

    The fire in March 2014 took the lives of Lt. Edward Walsh, 43, and firefighter Michael Kennedy, 33. They were trapped in the building’s basement and died from smoke inhalation and burns.

    The bill requires the Department of Fire Services to develop a publicly accessible database to document notices of code violations and fines from violations of the state fire code, including the failure of an individual to maintain hot-work training certification, performing hot work without hot-work training certification, and failure to comply with hot-work permit requirements.

    Investigators determined that the wind-whipped fire was started by welding sparks from work being done by two employees of an ironworks firm working without a permit next door.

    Investigators determined that that actions were irresponsible and careless, but not criminal, according to the district attorney’s office at the time.

    Kennedy was a former Marine and volunteer for burn victims and for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Walsh was married with three children.

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    In 2015, the state fire marshal along with the Boston firefighters’ union and state firefighters’ association, called for the passage of legislation to establish a commission to study strengthening state regulations for welding and similar work, including stronger penalties for violations and training and certification.

    Democratic state Sen. Nick Collins, the primary sponsor of the bill, said passing this measure “will ensure that the critical reforms, training, oversight, and accountability needed to prevent tragedies like the Back Bay fire will be the law of the land.”

    “We do this in honor of Boston Fire Lieutenant Edward Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy so that their sacrifices are not in vain,” he added Thursday.

    In 2016, a federal report found the Boston Fire Department’s lack of training to fight wind-driven fires, inadequate staffing, and failure to adequately assess risk played a role in the blaze.

    The 77-page National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health report pointed out several other factors, including a hose to the basement where they were trapped that burned through and therefore couldn’t deliver water, and doors left open by escaping tenants and workers that allowed air to flow freely through the building.

    The bill now heads to the Massachusetts House.

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Massachusetts Man Gets 40 Years in Prison for Fatal Attack on Partner on a Beach in Maine

    Massachusetts Man Gets 40 Years in Prison for Fatal Attack on Partner on a Beach in Maine

    BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) — A Massachusetts man who beat his partner to death on a beach in Maine was sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison.

    Jeffrey Buchannan had pleaded guilty to murder under a plea agreement. He told police he blacked out before the attack on Rhonda Pattelena, who was bludgeoned with a rock on Short Sands Beach in York on March 26, 2021. Buchannan was arrested after police received multiple 911 calls that day.

    Pattelena, 35, wanted Buchannan to see her favorite beach, her family said.

    She was sending a Snapchat video to a friend while on the beach when she was first struck, prosecutors said. Some of the assault also was captured on a surveillance video from nearby businesses, according to police.

    Police collected evidence from the scene including the rock, which was displayed to the judge in court on Wednesday.

    The defense contended 36-year-old Buchannan, from Bedford, Massachusetts, was experiencing a psychiatric crisis.

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    Buchannan’s guilty plea came under an agreement with prosecutors that capped his sentence at 43 years. Pattelena’s friends and family urged the judge on Wednesday to impose a sentence greater than that.

    Pattelena was already dead when police arrived; an autopsy concluded she died from head injuries. The two were domestic partners and had one child together, the youngest of Pattelena’s three children. None of the children were present during the attack.

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Boston to Pay $4.6M to Settle Wrongful Death Suit Stemming From Police Killing of Mentally Ill Man

    Boston to Pay $4.6M to Settle Wrongful Death Suit Stemming From Police Killing of Mentally Ill Man

    BOSTON (AP) — The city of Boston will pay about $4.6 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the police killing of a mentally ill man in 2016.

    Terrence Coleman was a Black man diagnosed with schizophrenia. His mother filed the lawsuit with a goal of bringing change to the way first responders deal with people with mental illnesses.

    “No mother should have to witness her child killed at the hands of police and fight, the way that I have had to fight now for so many years, to gain accountability,” said Hope Coleman in a statement. “Nothing can bring Terrence back, but today at least some measure of justice has been done.”

    Boston city officials said in a statement Tuesday that the city will pay about $3.4 million to Coleman’s mother and estate, along with an additional $1.2 million to cover legal expenses under the terms of the settlement. The city said in a statement that it “acknowledges that its procedural failures within the litigation process delayed resolution of this matter.”

    The statement also said the resolution “does not include an admission of liability” by the city and that the city “has invested in alternative response programs for people experiencing mental health episodes, and we are determined to ensure continued support for mental health throughout our neighborhoods.”

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    Attorneys for Hope Coleman said a judge dismissed the lawsuit on Monday.

    Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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