Jalen Pina, a 20-year-old male, was fatally shot on the evening of Saturday, January 24, 2026, at a child's birthday party in Carver, Massachusetts. The gathering was being held at the Saint John the Baptist Club on Silva Street when the deadly shooting occurred. Emergency services received multiple 911 calls around 7:21 p.m. reporting that several people had been shot.
Upon their arrival, law enforcement and medical personnel found four victims.
Another man, Benjamin Cowart, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. Pina was transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth, where he succumbed to his injuries. Two other men, ages 28 and 32, were also wounded in the shooting and taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. Pina was a 2023 graduate of Middleboro High School and was a passionate rapper known as "Buku tensai." A GoFundMe was created to support his family.
The suspected shooter, identified as 23-year-old Nicholas Meuse of Plymouth, was located by Carver Police down the street from the social club and arrested at the scene. It has been reported that all parties involved were known to each other. Meuse, who was reportedly the uncle of the seven-year-old boy for whom the birthday party was being held, allegedly called 911 after the shooting, claiming he had shot someone in self-defense. He was arraigned in Wareham District Court on two counts of murder, two counts of armed assault with intent to murder, and multiple gun charges, totaling 12 charges. Meuse was ordered held without bail, and a probable cause hearing was scheduled for February 25, 2026.
