Man shot to death near Dorchester elementary school

By Globe Staff

A Dorchester elementary school was briefly locked down after a man was shot to death near the school shortly before noon, Boston Police said.

A Boston Police photographer photographed evidence as Sergeant Detective Joseph McDonald, a homicide investigator, looked on after a 23-year-old man was shot to death at the corner of Westville and Bowdoin Streets in Dorchester. (Bill Brett/Globe Photo)

A spokesman said the 23-year-old victim was shot in the leg on Bowdoin Street at 11:56 a.m. and another man was spotted fleeing the scene. Police said it appeared the man had been shot multiple times. He was rushed to Boston Medical Center where he died.

The shooting prompted Boston public schools to put the John Marshall Elementary School into a lockdown -- or "safe mode," as the school department calls it. Starting shortly before noon, no one at the school was able to enter or leave the building, although students and staff were allowed to move around the building, said Matthew Wilder, a school department spokesman.

The lockdown did not extend to the entire school building. Polling stations at the school remained open, allowing voters to enter and leave that area of the building without restriction, Wilder said.

Police are searching nearby streets for the shooter, described as a male, about 5 feet, 9 inches to 6 feet tall with a white T-shirt and baseball cap. Authorities said he was spotted running to Greenbrier Street, and an intensive search was under way.