In the early hours of December 27, 2018, a burst of gunfire in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston set in motion a tragic chain of events. Eighteen-year-old Myssiah Pledger, a Black / African American male, was caught in the violence that erupted on Astoria Street shortly after 12:30 a.m. In the aftermath of the shooting, a car was discovered a short distance away in the area of 7 Dyer Street in Dorchester.
Inside the vehicle, police found two individuals who had been shot.
One of them, suffering from a leg wound, was transported to a local hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. The other occupant, Myssiah Pledger, was found to have sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. A third victim of the shooting later appeared at a local hospital emergency room with undisclosed injuries.
Boston police investigators quickly determined that the initial incident was a triple shooting. Ballistic evidence was recovered on Astoria Street, indicating where the violence began. At the time of the initial reports, no arrests had been made in connection with the shooting. The Boston Police Department's Homicide Unit took charge of the investigation, which was described as active and ongoing as they worked to identify any suspects and determine a motive for the shooting that claimed the young man's life.
