This story was updated on Monday, Nov. 24 to include new information from a Boston Police report and information about the Raiders latest victory.- Editor
The pop-pop-pop of gunshots disrupted a youth football program’s practice at Dorchester’s Harambee Park last Wednesday evening (Nov. 19). Coaches are putting out the call for extra vigilance from police and the community at-large and say the team won’t be deterred by the incident.
According to a Boston Police report reviewed by The Reporter, as many as a dozen shots were fired at around 6:20 p.m. near the park’s basketball court where officers recovered ballistic evidence and found an unoccupied black scooter with “blood on the back.”
A trail of blood led out to Blue Hill Avenue and ended across the street, but no victim was located, the report said. Two other “dirt bikes” were seen fleeing through the park towards Talbot Avenue.
Keith Pinson, a coach in the Boston Raiders program, said his team of 8- and 9- year-old boys were running drills on the field when the gunfire erupted nearby.
“It sounded like seven or eight gunshots,” he said. “All the kids stopped where they were standing. The coaches and I took them to a place of safety and cancelled practice. We were only 20 minutes in.”
“It’s unfortunate because we’re trying to prepare for a big game and have to deal with this,” said Pinson.
The 9-and Under Boston Raiders team is undefeated this season and recently qualified for the national tournament. On Nov. 22, they defeated their regional rivals, the Lawrence Hurricanes, to advance to the national Pop Warner tournament in Charlotte, NC next month.
The team is led by players like Nickoy Samuels Jr., Kameron Debarros, and Kenrick Russell, Jr., according to Pinson.
“These young boys are out there trying to do something positive,” he continued. “It’s our job as coaches and mentors to keep them on a positive track now and away from anything going on like this.”
Arkey Taylor, the president of the Raiders program, said they won’t be intimidated.
“The Boston Raiders organization takes the safety of our children as our highest priority and we realize that these incidents may place obstacles in our path,” Taylor told The Reporter. “However, this is our neighborhood, and we will not be run out because of some characters that don’t value being a part of the fabric of this community.”
Taylor called on the Boston Police, local clergy, and community members to work together to prevent acts of violence like this, particularly in places where children play and practice sports.
“This is why we work so hard to guide our youth toward becoming productive individuals and critical thinkers,” he noted. “We do this by exposing them to positive outlets, like football and cheerleading that build discipline, confidence, and teamwork…And trips like the opportunity we have of attending the Pop Warner nationals is how we emphasize to the kids that there’s more to life than what they possibly see in their neighborhood sometimes.”
The Raiders are currently raising money to send the football and cheer teams to Charlotte and plan to continue practicing at Franklin Field, Taylor said.
Anyone wishing to donate to a fund set up to help them get to the Nationals in Charlotte can do so here.
