2 men stabbed outside Symphony Hall

A double stabbing next to Symphony Hall last night left two men in critical condition and brought the city's continuing wave of violence to the scene of one of its most venerable holiday traditions, as festively dressed crowds emerged from a Holiday Pops concert to find waiting limousines and police tape blocking the stage door.

"Everybody was yelling," said Joe Rizzo, who works for Arborway Limousine Services in Weymouth. "There was blood everywhere. Who would think that in a festive atmosphere like this something like this would happen?"

The stabbings occurred about 8:15 p.m., just outside Symphony Hall's stage door, located on St. Stephen Street, about 20 yards from Massachusetts Avenue, according to Boston police. One victim was transported to Boston Medical Center and the other was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital. Both were stabbed in the abdomen and were in critical condition late last night.

Rizzo, who had just dropped off a party at Symphony Hall, said he was waiting on Massachusetts Avenue when he heard a woman's "chilling screams."

He ran around the corner to St. Stephen Street and saw two men lying in the road, bleeding, he said. The woman, who was standing over the wounded men and screaming out a man's name, called another woman who arrived at the scene in hysterics, Rizzo said.

According to Boston police Superintendent Robert Harrington, who held a press conference at the scene last night, a fight had broken out around 8:15 p.m. that resulted in the stabbings of the two men. He said police did not know what had triggered the fight, but believed that at least one of the victims either lived or worked in the area.

"Detectives are chasing down every lead," he said.

Harrington said workers inside Symphony Hall were questioned immediately after police arrived and homicide detectives were conducting a detailed search behind Symphony Hall and on St. Stephen Street, which was closed to traffic.

"I'm shaken up," said Rizzo. "It's the Christmas season, you think peace and joy and then something like this happens."

A little over an hour after the stabbings, hundreds of people streamed out of the festive Holiday Pops concert, men in suits, women in furs, boys in coats and ties, and girls in dresses.

As many turned the corner toward St. Stephen Street, they came upon the yellow crime tape and saw police searching under cars and shining lights over the pavement.

Many looked stunned and upset, and asked, "What happened?"

Scott and Allison Shea had taken their 6-year-old son, William, to the concert.

"We had a wonderful night," Scott Shea said as his son stared at the police. "Christmas, Keith Lockhart, and the Pops. What else could you ask for? To see this is heartbreaking."

John Flavin of Framingham, who has attended the Holiday Pops for five years, left the concert with friends in a holiday mood, only to find a crime investigation.

"At first I thought it was a [police] detail because of the crowd, but then I found out it's a crime scene," he said. "Merry Christmas."

Secretary of State William Galvin, who was leaving the concert said, "it was fine up until now."

Jane Brennan, who lives across the street and came out to see what was happening, said she was stunned that the brutal violence had hit her neighborhood.

"Because of all the kids in the area, I feel really safe," she said. "It's a great place to live."

Brennan said she was disturbed by the recent robberies of a nearby church and a flower shop.

By 10:15 p.m., the last of the concertgoers had left and detectives were taking out large brown paper bags of evidence from Symphony Hall and dusting the stage door for fingerprints.

The St. Stephen Street stabbing occurred on a weekend that was riddled with violence across the city that included a triple shooting on a quiet Mattapan street Friday night, a double stabbing in East Boston yesterday, and two shootings over Friday night and yesterday morning.

While injuries to one victim in the triple shooting and one in the stabbing were initially listed as life-threatening, a police spokesman said yesterday that they are expected to survive.

All the victims were listed yesterday as serious but stable. The shooting victims were males ages 17 to 27. Police did not release names of any victims or ages of the stabbing victims.

In Mattapan, an 18-year-old from Dorchester, a 24-year-old from Milton, and a 27-year-old from Mattapan were shot on Crowell Street. Residents reported hearing a quick series of shots shortly before 9 p.m. and seeing a black car leaving the scene. The 27-year-old was found on a porch with a gunshot wound to his lower leg. The man told police he was on his way to visit a friend when someone opened fire, said John Boyle, police spokesman.

In East Boston, police said, the stabbings occurred about 7 a.m. on Paris Street and may have been the result of a fight between two men. After they were stabbed, both men went on their own to the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center on Gove Street and from there, were transported to Massachusetts General Hospital.

Police are also investigating the shootings of a man in Roslindale and of a 17-year-old male from Dorchester who transported himself to Boston Medical Center Friday night.

Police also confiscated three loaded handguns in two separate incidents in Dorchester and arrested four men for unlawful possession of a firearm.

Kevin Taylor, 17, of Dorchester, was stopped at 6:15 Friday evening on Maxwell Street after police responded to 911 calls of shots fired. He was arrested after police said they discovered a loaded gun.

Police, responding to a disturbance at a house party on Woodledge Street at 2:25 a.m. yesterday, said they found two loaded handguns inside a garbage bag and arrested Terrell Dilworth and Paul McKenzie, both 30, of Dorchester, and Trevis Webb, 33, of Mattapan.

For most of the year, Boston has been on pace to eclipse last year's homicide total of 75, which was a 10-year-high.

But with two weeks left this year, there are 71 homicides, one less than the total through Dec. 16, 2005, according to police statistics. Last week marked the one-year anniversary of a quadruple homicide on Bourneside Street in Dorchester, Boston's deadliest crime in a decade.

Globe correspondents Richard Thompson and Nathan Hurst contributed to this report. Christine McConville can be reached at cmcconville@globe.com.