Violence jolts night of triumph in city
Son stabbed after councilor's win
Hours after celebrating his father's victory in a hard-fought City Council race, a South Boston man was stabbed as he left a West Broadway restaurant early yesterday morning.
Sean Linehan, 26, son of Bill Linehan, who was elected District 2 city councilor on Tuesday, told police he walked into a brawl on the sidewalk about 12:45 a.m. after dining at Teriyaki House restaurant, according to a police report obtained by the Globe.
Police responding to reports of a fight were flagged down by a shirtless Linehan, who told officers that he had been assaulted by three men and two women, the police report said.
A city official briefed by the family said that Linehan had told the people who were fighting to "take it somewhere else" before he was attacked.
A cashier at Teriyaki House, a small Japanese and sushi restaurant that stays open until 1 a.m., said yesterday that he had seen several people scuffling on the sidewalk about the time Linehan left the restaurant. The cashier, who declined to be identified, said he didn't know who instigated the fight or what it was about.
Linehan was taken by ambulance to Boston Medical Center, where he remained in intensive care yesterday with a punctured and collapsed lung and a broken rib, according to the city official.
Bill Linehan, who stayed by his son's hospital bed yesterday, said in a phone inter view that he was shocked and horrified by the stabbing.
"After a really great night, and a high point in my life, for this to occur pains us," Linehan said. "We are concerned for our son, Sean, and ask for prayers for our fam ily."
Public safety issues were not a prominent part of Linehan's campaign platform, but with crime a lingering issue in the city he expressed outrage yesterday over violence in Boston and pledged to work to help reduce crime.
"This kind of senseless violence in our city has to stop," Linehan said in a statement. "We will not allow our streets to be plagued by violence. I want to continue working with the BPD and others to help on this issue, as I always have, in order to make our streets safe for our children."
City councilors were also shocked and angered by the stabbing.
"My thoughts and prayers go out to Sean and the Linehan family for a full recovery," said Councilor at Large Michael F. Flaherty, who had his own run-in with crime when a stray bullet shattered his car window before a candidate forum in 2005. "Random acts of violence like this have no place in Boston."
Linehan, 56, has worked in various depart ments in City Hall for the past 20 years, and Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday that he was saddened by what happened and vowed to fight the rise in violence.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Linehan family and especially their son, Sean," Menino said through his spokeswoman, Dorothy Joyce. "The safety of our residents remains my top priority, and we will continue to ask for the public's help in finding those responsible for these senseless crimes."
Sean Linehan lives in an apartment in his father's two-family house on G Street in South Boston. Since 2004, he has worked as a court officer at the Dorchester division of Boston Municipal Court.
The incident occurred several hours after Linehan attended a victory party for his father, who addressed a crowd of supporters at a bar on the South Boston waterfront. The crowd cheered as one of Linehan's daughters, Christin Armour, introduced him as Boston's new city councilor from District 2 after he defeated Susan Passoni from the South End to succeed Councilor James M. Kelly, who died in January of brain cancer.
Yesterday, Linehan's olive-colored house in South Boston still had campaign signs up, with a message stapled on the front. "Thank You."
Police yesterday were still trying to identify the suspects in the stabbing.
Donovan Slack and Suzanne Smalley of the Globe staff and correspondent Elizabeth Ratto contributed to this report. Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com. 