MBTA Conductor Killed In Shooting Outside Fenway Park

BOSTON (CBS) – An MBTA commuter rail conductor was killed and three other people were wounded in a shooting near a bar outside Fenway Park early Thursday morning.

It started around 2 a.m. when officers patrolling on Van Ness Street heard gunshots just feet away on Yawkey Way near the bar ‘Who’s on First?’

“They’re brazen. They shot with my officers probably a half a block away,” Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans said.

“As they were responding they saw several hundred people fleeing the area,” Boston Police Superintendent-in-Chief Williams Gross told reporters.

A spokesman for Keolis Commuter Services, which operates the MBTA’s commuter rail, told WBZ-TV, they were mourning “the senseless loss of conductor Jephthe Chery.”

Chery, who would have turned 30 on Friday, was found dead outside in front of the bar from a gunshot wound.  Investigators say it appears he may have been an innocent bystander.

Jephthe Chery. (Family photo)

“He was beloved and respected by his friends and colleagues on the railroad. Today we think deeply of his family, friends and co-workers,” spokesman Mac Daniel said in a statement.

Friends of Chery also posted condolence messages on Facebook.

“From what I understand the young man that got shot was a hard working person, (he was going) to work today,” Mayor Marty Walsh told WBZ-TV.

Three other men in their late 20’s were also hit in the gunfire, but Gross said their injuries are not life-threatening.

Police found a gun and shell casings at the scene, but there have been no arrests.

Boston Police shut down Yawkey Way after the shooting. (WBZ-TV)

There was a private function at the bar at the time of the shooting. Gross said it’s not clear yet if there was an altercation there.

“It was a chaotic scene,” he said with “several hundred people” fleeing as the shots were fired. “You couldn’t pick out who’s whom,” Gross said.

Investigators will be reviewing video from surveillance cameras in the neighborhood for suspects.

Commissioner Evans said there’s a persistent problem with the bar.

“It has a history of violent incidents and it’s not indicative of the area and I hate to hear on the news someone shot so close to Fenway because the area is great, it’s safe,” he told WBZ.

A man was found shot dead outside this bar early Thanksgiving morning. (WBZ-TV)

The bar had been cited for a license violation back in September after a shooting left two women wounded.

‘Who’s on First?’ has also been cited multiple times since 1985, including several violations for selling alcohol to minors and assaults that took place on the property.

The incident early on a holiday left the mayor and investigators frustrated and furious.

“First of all, some people have to grow up. We’re talking about grown men (on) Thanksgiving weekend,” Walsh said.

“For God’s sake, it’s Thanksgiving.  We shouldn’t have these types of crimes occurring.  Unfortunately it did, so we’re going to need everyone’s help,” Gross said.

Anyone with information is urged to call Boston Police.

There were two high school football games played inside Fenway Wednesday evening.  Two more Thanksgiving games were played there Thursday.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s Bernice Corpuz reports