A man was shot to death on Monday afternoon inside a vehicle on Columbia Road near Devon Street. The incident happened just before 5 p.m., according to a Boston Police account. WCVB-TV 5 reported that “witnesses say they saw a man slumped over inside” one of two vehicles that collided along Columbia Road, which was shut down to traffic as police investigated at the scene.

The name of the man killed in the gunfire has not yet been made public by authorities.

The broad daylight incident took place near the Lilla G. Frederick Middle School, which was placed into “safe mode” for about 20 minutes, according to a letter sent to parents.

Police Commissioner William Cox told reporters that police needed “the public’s help on this stuff. If they know about things in advance, if you see people arguing and fighting… let us know beforehand, so we can start to help prevent some of these things from happening in the first place,” he told Channel 5.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call homicide detectives at 617-343-4470.