Cambridge Police Arrest Man in Oct. 6 Shooting Near Russell Field

Cambridge police have arrested a man in connection with the Oct. 6 shooting near Russell Field in North Cambridge that left one person wounded, the department announced Tuesday.

Jayven McNealy was taken into custody at about 6 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, when officers executed a search warrant, according to a Cambridge Police Department statement. McNealy was arraigned the same day in Cambridge District Court on multiple charges, including armed assault to murder, aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, and carrying a firearm without a license, police said. He is expected back in court on Friday, Oct. 23.

Police have not publicly described the evidence that led investigators to McNealy, what led up to the shooting or whether a weapon was recovered. The department's statement did not give McNealy's age or hometown. Some outlets, including WHDH, spelled his last name McNealey; this account uses the spelling in the police department's release. The charges are allegations, and McNealy has not been convicted of any crime.

The arrest came two weeks after the afternoon shooting near the athletic fields off Rindge Avenue.

At approximately 3:20 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, Cambridge Emergency Communications received multiple 911 calls reporting gunshots in the vicinity of Russell Field, according to the police department's statement that day. Responders found one person suffering from injuries related to the gunfire, and that person was taken by ambulance to a hospital, police said. Police from Cambridge and regional partner agencies investigated at the scene.

In updates posted that afternoon, the department said command staff at the scene did not believe there was an ongoing threat to public safety. After the crime scene was processed, Rindge Avenue and nearby roadways were reopened to traffic, and police said officers and detectives would remain in the area.

The Cambridge | Somerville Independent reported that the shooting took place on Rindge Avenue across from Comeau Field, according to scanner reports, and that one caller reported hearing "four or five" shots. Responders found the victim at the bus turnaround, and the person was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, the Independent reported. At the time the gunshots were reported, police also took a call from someone at the Alewife MBTA station who said they had seen a person carrying a handgun and walking toward the Fresh Pond Mall, across a bridge and south of the scene, and officers searched businesses there, according to the Independent.

The Boston Globe reported on the day of the shooting that a section of Rindge Avenue was roped off with police tape. A tow truck arrived around 6 p.m. and removed a black Chevrolet that officers had inspected earlier in the afternoon, the Globe reported. The operator and police at the scene declined to say whether the vehicle was being impounded.

The person who was shot has not been publicly identified. NBC10 Boston reported that the victim was a 47-year-old man who was walking with his girlfriend when he was struck. Speaking to NBC10 Boston on the day of the shooting, the woman said she did not know the shooter. "The dude came out of nowhere — I don't know him — unexpectedly. Nobody knows him. We don't know who it is," she told the station. Boston 25 News reported that the woman said the man had been shot in the leg and that she believed the shooting was random.

Russell Field sits off Rindge Avenue next to the Alewife MBTA station, and its fields include the one where the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School football team plays, according to the Globe and NBC10 Boston. The woman told NBC10 Boston that she did not see any children on the field at the time of the shooting. The MBTA Transit Police said they were not involved in the investigation, the station reported.

The Russell Field shooting was the fifth gunfire incident in Cambridge this year, the Cambridge | Somerville Independent reported, citing police. A sixth followed about eight hours later. Shortly before midnight on Oct. 7, police, firefighters and EMTs responded to the Columbia Terrace area in The Port neighborhood, where officers found a 19-year-old who had been shot, according to the Independent. Police said there was not believed to be any broader danger to the community. No arrest in that case was announced in the Cambridge police statement released Tuesday.

Neither shooting was detected by ShotSpotter, the gunfire-detection system the city recently brought back. A police spokesperson told the Independent that there was "no activation for the North Cambridge shooting as that took place significantly outside of the coverage radius." Police later said the system also did not generate an alert for the Columbia Terrace shooting, which the Independent reported made three gunfire incidents in a row in which the technology did not play a role.

The City Council voted 6-3 in early August to reactivate ShotSpotter for 90 days, reversing for the time being a May decision to end the city's use of the system, The Harvard Crimson reported. The order also directed City Manager Yi-An Huang to convene a resident assembly, selected by lottery, to review the technology and other public safety measures. The system returned to service on Aug. 18, according to the Independent.

Cambridge police have asked anyone with information about the Oct. 6 shooting to contact detectives at 617-349-3300. Anonymous tips can be submitted through the department's website.

McNealy's next court date is Friday in Cambridge District Court.