Shooting victim finds aid at party

Purple-and-pink streamers still clung to the chain-link fence in front of 45 Rosedale St. in Dorchester yesterday, where a girl's birthday party was interrupted Saturday evening when a 19-year-old man who had been shot multiple times collapsed in the street in front of her house.

Witnesses said that minutes after hearing what they thought were firecrackers, a bearded man with braided hair turned the corner of Whitfield Street onto Rosedale Street near Codman Square. When the man reached the house, he fell to the ground, clutching his stomach and asking for help.

Boston police identified the man as Joshua Richardson and said he remained in critical condition last night at Boston Medical Center, where he was treated for multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.

Mike Marshall, who lives across the street from the house where the party took place, said that most of the partygoers were outside enjoying the weather when Richardson appeared.

''We were having the birthday party and he came up and was like, 'Help!' " Marshall said. ''We all took the kids and ran into the house with them."

Marshall estimated that more than 20 children were at the party, in addition to many parents and neighbors.

Irving Holloway, who has lived on Rosedale Street for more than a decade, said that two nurses who were attending the party helped Richardson before police and rescue personnel arrived. Holloway said that they were unaware that Richardson had been shot until he lifted his shirt to reveal his wounds. ''We saw he had a hole in his stomach," Holloway said. ''He kept asking for his mother."

Though police would not say where Richardson is from, witnesses said they thought he lived in the same neighborhood.

Deputy Superintendent Charles Horsley of the Boston police said the shooting took place shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday at the corner of Talbot and Southern avenues and that Richardson was running from the scene when he collapsed in front of the party. Police recovered seven shell casings at the site of shooting. Horsley also said that police are looking for a group of suspects, but did not specify an exact number.

The incident left the partygoers unnerved, Holloway said. ''We told all the kids to get in the house because we didn't know if anything else was going to happen," he said.