Stabbing on Boston Common renews safety concerns: "We clearly have an issue"
There is growing frustration from business owners and people who live near the Boston Common, saying violent crime needs to be reined in urgently.
This time, in the middle of the afternoon on Friday, in a tourist and family hotspot, a man was stabbed and rushed to the hospital after a fight with another man, police say. The stabbing happened on Tremont Street and Temple Place around 1:48 p.m.
"When you have acts of violence, across the neighborhood in our nation's oldest park, that should disturb everybody," said Rishi Shukla, president of the Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association. "This isn't political, it's not controversial, it's not debatable, we have an issue."
The brazen act of violence is part of a troubling series of incidents in and around Boston Common and Downtown Crossing.
"That's crazy, broad daylight people are out, kids, families, grandparents, people are going on their lunch break so that is quite crazy," said Saoirse Byrne, who's from Ireland and staying near the Common.
In the last month, WBZ covered five people getting shot in separate incidents around Tremont Street.
Just last week, Jonathan Sanon was beaten to death on the Common. The suspect, Ashlie Jeremie, was allegedly homeless, off his bipolar meds, with a history of violence.
Sanon's stepfather called on the city to step up this week. "We deserve better than that for God's sake. Boston really?" said Moliere Desrosiers.
The Downtown Boston Neighborhood Association says it met with the mayor this week to address public safety concerns and will meet next week with a renewed task force to take action.
"My personal view is that you need to flood the zone with as many officers as is needed to fix the issue. We clearly have an issue in Downtown Boston that needs attention and it can't be weeks from now, it can't be months from now, it has to be right now," said Shukla.
Police say the victim in the latest stabbing is expected to survive. No one has been arrested.
