Randolph sees surge in youth violence

RANDOLPH -- As afternoon rush-hour traffic buzzed by on Route 28 last month, a bullet tore through Ezekiel Cuthbert's body as he walked by a gas station. A man walking nearby flinched at the loud gunfire and witnessed the teen collapse onto the sidewalk, fatally wounded. As traffic screeched to a stop and curious residents opened their doors, several people gave chase to a youth fleeing the scene.

Eight days later, a 24-year-old Randolph man was shot dead at a Fourth of July house party on Bayberry Lane.

It was the fourth homicide in Randolph since January 2005, as violent crime skyrockets in the once-quiet suburb south of Boston after 13 years without deadly street violence. According to FBI statistics, the number of aggravated assaults -- attacks intended to inflict severe bodily harm -- averaged 19 each year from 1995 to 1999. But the annual average jumped to 69 from 2000 to 2005. More recent figures were not available.

In addition, two Randolph teens are facing homicide charges for shootings that occurred outside the town last year.

"Certainly there has been an uprise in youth violence in Randolph," said Police Chief Paul Porter as he walked briskly into his office last week. He declined to comment further.

The town has for decades drawn families with the promise of a bucolic lifestyle in a setting only 14 miles from downtown Boston. From 1950 to 1970, the population almost tripled to about 27,000. Route 28, the most traveled throughway, is dotted with family restaurants and small businesses, and on lazy summer weekends, neighbors from diverse backgrounds often sit together on porches and chat. But the surge in violence has shaken that way of life, as many residents accustomed to leaving their doors open or taking walks on moonlit nights have abandoned those habits.

On a cold January night in 2005, Joseph Lopes, 23, of Dorchester had just stepped out of the Copa Grande Oasis nightclub near Main Street in Randolph when he was shot at close range. Then last February, a man walking his dog in a wooded area near Irving Road came across a body. The victim, identified as Adilio Rodrigues, 22, of Brockton, had been shot. Porter said his department is treating the homicide as if it occurred in Randolph, although it remains unclear where Rodrigues was shot. In the Cuthbert shooting, police charged a 16-year-old Mattapan youth.

Despite the rise of violence, many residents, including those who live near areas where violence has occurred, say they are not going to be scared out of town.

"The day after that [Bayberry homicide] happened, my husband and I flipped out," said Eileen Migueles, 50, a nurse who lives on Bayberry Lane, several houses from where the latest homicide occurred. "We spent the whole day on the Internet looking for houses in Canton. But I don't think we're ready to give up. A lot of people have already moved out, but we love this town," she said.

Census statistics point to a major shift in demographics in Randolph.

In 1990, there were 25,694 white and 2,456 black residents. Now, according to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which studies demographic trends in the region, there are about 19,455 whites and 6,456 blacks. In the same timeframe, the Latino population has almost doubled to 1,006 and the Asian population has jumped from 1,672 to 3,151.

However, residents and town officials say the increase in violence has nothing to do with race.

"What's happening with the crime, it's a social-economic issue more than one of race," said James F. Burgess Jr., a selectman since 1993. He said his family has lived in town for more than 100 years.

According to statistics from the state's Department of Education, 40 percent of students in the public school district were classified in 2006-07 as coming from low- income households, up from 30 percent two years ago.

Burgess said, "earlier in the transition, we were getting new residents who were better employed across all ethnic and racial backgrounds, but in the last five years, we've been getting a new group of people who are not as fluid with cash, who have a different ideal of what it means to live in the suburbs. Most of the people who moved here before did so because they valued the safeness and the sense of community the town had to offer, but I'm seeing a change in those values by people coming from the city. They're bringing the city life with them. We need to figure out how we attract a different level of resident."

Burgess said a problem with gangs has been growing in the town and that the Police Department is in the process of deploying more officers on the street and has been working closely with the Boston Police Department's gang unit.

"As a community, we have to have a strong show of force to let them know we're not going to tolerate it," Burgess said.