Gunfire shattered a window and critically wounded two brothers, ages 12 and 18, last night in Roslindale, police said.
The victims were in critical condition last night, said Boston police Superintendent Robert Dunford, who sped to the scene last night, followed by Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis.
Officer James Kenneally, a Boston police spokesman, said the victims were shot through the window of a two-family home on Cornell Street about 10:35 p.m. and were rushed to Boston Medical Center.
Their names were not released.
One neighbor, who identified herself only as Shari, 38, said she was inside an apartment she shares with her brother and spending time with friends when they heard at least two gunshots. Shari’s brother ran downstairs with a friend and saw a person running away from the house where the shooting occurred.
When someone told her about the shooting and she heard the sirens, she went to her window and saw an officer carry what she thought was a small boy out of the home to an ambulance. She said her brother was at a police station giving his account.
"I thought we left it behind in Dorchester," said Shari, who moved to the Roslindale apartment three months ago. "I guess it followed us."
A neighbor who did not wish to be identified said he heard "four shots in rapid succession." The neighbor said police who interviewed him said one of the victims was shot in the leg. The neighbor said the victims had recently moved into the home.
The investigation is ongoing, police said.
Witnesses and neighbors said the gunfire and police presence rattled the usually quiet street.
"I don't know what to think, my sense of safety is gone," said Stephen Fraccastoro, 38, of Jamaica Plain. "But I am glad to see the cops here."
Fraccastoro was visiting a friend who lives about four homes from where the shooting took place and was watching television when the shots rang out. He said he did not believe his friend when he told him the noise was gunfire.
"I grew up in this neighborhood, and I used to walk around with my father. This is tragic, this is children, and nobody deserves that."
Another neighbor who was nearby said he heard about four gunshots and that he was scared afterward. The shooting occurred less than a mile from a shooting on Wednesday in which three males, ages 17-23, were targeted in a limousine at Poplar Street and Metropolitan Avenue. One of the victims, Darrius Jones, 23, of Dorchester, died.
Last night's shooting also followed a particularly deadly week on Boston streets, in which four people were fatally shot and one was stabbed. In his State of the City address last week, Mayor Thomas M. Menino applauded police for helping curb crime last year.
In the past seven months, three people have been shot and two injured through residential windows. The most recent account occurred Dec. 6 when a pregnant, 22-year-old woman was shot through the glass of her Mattapan home. The woman and her unborn twins survived. An 8-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries when a bullet was fired into his Roxbury home on June 25.
Globe correspondent Emily Canal contributed to this report.
