'Fifth-graders came in screaming'
Shots sprayed as recess started
Gunfire erupted outside a Dorchester elementary school yesterday afternoon, as more than a dozen fifth-graders were starting recess in their playground, outraged school officials and parents said yesterday.
It is unclear what prompted the shooting in front of the John Winthrop School, which is located on the Dorchester-Roxbury line, but Boston police were seeking two men in minivans who fired at each other, spraying the area with gunfire.
''At lunch the fifth-graders came in screaming," Marianna Ayala, 9, said. ''My friend George said there was a guy shooting with a real gun." Marianna's father, Jose, held her hand and added that he, too, was shocked by the afternoon gunfight.
''I feel real bad," Jose Ayala said.
Although no one was injured in the shooting, parents arriving to pick up their children after school said they are fed up with the gun violence that has rocked their neighborhood. The number of shootings in Boston has increased significantly, jumping by 28 percent through late last month over the same period a year ago.
Police Superintendent Robert Dunford said yesterday that officers were called at about 1 p.m., shortly after people in two minivans shot at each other while driving past the school. Police said they are seeking a green Chevrolet minivan and a silver or blue minivan, which they said a witness saw near the playground on Brookford Street.
Police said ballistic evidence was recovered half a block from the school playground at the corner of Dacia and Brookford streets. Police also found a blue
School principal Emily Shamieh said that about 15 children were entering the playground area when the shots were fired.
''I'm angry because now I have to worry about the safety of my children out in the schoolyard," Shamieh said. ''I want them to be able to play and enjoy outside activities."
Parents yesterday arrived at about 3 p.m. at the school to pick up their children from inside classrooms, a change in the school's dismissal routine that Shamieh said was a precaution because of the violence.
''We will do what we can to make them safe," Shamieh said. She said the students in the playground during the shooting ''were definitely agitated."
Felipe Da Rosa, whose 10-year-old daughter attends the school, said he believes there should be better security.
''We need more protection around the school," Da Rosa said. ''We need to make sure our children are very safe."
Jonathan Palumbo, spokesman for Boston Public Schools, said elementary schools do not have security personnel, though he said officials will consider providing officers if Shamieh requests them. Palumbo said school officials called parents of children who walk home from school to suggest they arrange for chaperones.
''We do have the ability to move school police around at entrance and dismissal time for when kids are coming to school and when they're leaving," Palumbo said.
Palumbo did not know where the shots were fired, but he said Shamieh called him to report that children at recess heard gunshots and gave statements to police.
Bernadette Coston, whose 6-year-old daughter Brinajai attends the school, said she wrote a letter to the principal last year asking that the amount of time children spend outside be minimized because the neighborhood is unsafe.
''This is ridiculous: These kids can't go to school without this going on," Coston said. ''. . . In this area there's always shooting."
Amos Marrero said he was in his house on Julian Street doing repair work and listening to Christmas carols on the radio when he heard about 10 gunshots from the next block. Marrero, 50, said he loves his house because he has a garage where he can store his tools and enough room for his wife and two young daughters to live comfortably.
Marrero, an auto mechanic, said he owns his home and has invested several thousand dollars building a deck and installing hardwood floors, but he said he is ready to move because of the violence. He has lived there for almost two decades, he said.
''When I first moved here in '88, there was drug dealing and gangs, then it died out," Marrero said. ''Now, it's coming back."
Marrero said many problems come from a park area behind his home, which is a popular meeting place for troublemakers. The playground and school are almost directly behind Marrero's home.
''It drives me nuts," he said. ''The other day I was going to pack up and leave. I told my wife, 'Let's just cut our losses.' "
Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com. 