21-year-old Ashlee Berryman, was shot and killed at a popular bar in downtown Everett yesterday morning. She’s one of five people murdered in Greater Boston during a period of about four hours.
She was shot to death around 12:56 a.m. at the Braza Bar and Grill on School Street, while handing out her boyfriend’s CDs to people as he performed at the venue. According to police, she was an unintended target in the shooting.
She was rushed to Whidden Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead. No arrests have been made.
Berryman, who went by “Penny,” was at Braza to watch her boyfriend perform, her relatives said. The establishment had a lineup of rappers scheduled Wednesday night, according to social media posts promoting the event. She leaves behind a 3-year-old son, said her sister, Alx Berryman.
In a statement, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria said he was “deeply saddened’’ and “heartbroken’’ by the fatal shooting of Berryman and he vowed to provide financial support to police officers searching for her killer.
“I can not understand how someone can just fire a weapon and have no care what happens to the people on the other side of that gun,’’ DeMaria said. “My police department will spare no expense to find out who shot that gun. On behalf of all the residents of Everett I want to express again my sincerest condolences to Ashlee’s family.’’
A man who lives in Sacro Plaza, an apartment building next to the bar, said his wife witnessed the shooting from inside their home. He said his wife told him the shooter fired from the middle of the parking lot toward the entrance before the victim collapsed by the parking lot sign. He said he heard eight gunshots.
“My wife saw it,” he said. “She was so scared. She was lying on the couch and I said, ‘What happened?’ And she said, ‘Someone got shot.’”
The man said his wife told him the shooter fled behind Sacro Plaza, and that when he looked outside, he heard a man say he knew the shooter.
Source: Boston Globe
