April 19, 2013

Things in Boston Just Got Crazier

Watertown, a city near Boston, erupted in automatic gunfire and explosions shortly after midnight Friday.

A police staging area at the Watertown mall on Arsenal St., the scene of a massive shooting in Watertown, MA.Jeremiah Robinson/Zuma

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The Boston police have confirmed a connection between tonight’s incidents and the Boston Marathon suspects. Look for further updates on our Boston Marathon suspects explainer.

UPDATE, Friday, April 19, 4:21 a.m. EDT: The Middlesex County District Attorney’s office just released the following statement:

Police are investigating a fatal shooting of MIT campus police officer by two men who then committed an armed carjacking in Cambridge, Middlesex Acting District Attorney Michael Pelgro, Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas, and MIT Police Chief John DiFava announced this evening. 

At approximately 10:20 p.m. April 18, police received reports of shots fired on the MIT campus. At 10:30 p.m., an MIT campus police officer was found shot in his vehicle in the area of Vassar and Main streets. According to authorities, the officer was found evidencing multiple gunshot wounds. 

He was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital and pronounced deceased.
Authorities launched an immediate investigation into the circumstances of the shooting. The investigation determined that two males were involved in this shooting.

A short time later, police received reports of an armed carjacking by two males in the area of Third Street in Cambridge. The victim was carjacked at gunpoint by two males and was kept in the car with the suspects for approximately a half hour. The victim was released at a gas station on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. He was not injured. 

Police immediately began a search for the vehicle and were in pursuit of the vehicle into Watertown.

At that time, explosive devices were reportedly thrown from car by the suspects. The suspects and police also exchanged gunfire in the area of Dexter and Laurel streets. During this pursuit, an MBTA Police officer was seriously injured and transported to the hospital. 
During the pursuit, one suspect was critically injured and transported to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased. An extensive manhunt is ongoing in the Watertown area for the second suspect, who is believed to be armed and dangerous.

UPDATE, Friday, April 19, 2:27 a.m. EDT: The Boston Globe is reporting that the shootout involves the marathon suspects, and that one has been taken into custody.

Multiple law enforcement agencies converged on Watertown, Massachusetts, a city near Boston, on Friday night after a police officer was shot and killed near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge and police officers reported automatic fire and explosions. At this time it’s unclear what connection, if any, there is between this incident and the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. You can listen to the Boston police scanner here, but please keep in mind that police scanner information is often chaotic and not always correct. Boston’s 7 News (WHDH) and WCVB have coverage. The New York Times’ Jess Bidgood and the Boston Globe‘s Wesley Lowery are tweeting from Watertown.

7 News meteorologist Chris Lambert took a photo of the scene in Watertown.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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