4-year-old boy, teen shot in Roxbury

A 4-year-old boy and his teenage cousin were shot last night as they sat on the porch of their Roxbury home in the latest round of violence to strike an innocent young bystander.

The 4-year-old, identified by a relative as Farris Glover, was struck once in the side and was taken to Boston Medical Center, where he was undergoing surgery last night. His condition was not immediately known.

His cousin, Eric Parson, 17, was shot once in the arm and was brought to the same hospital for treatment of injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.

The boys' grandmother, Yvonne Johnson, was inside their Bragdon Street home when the shootings occurred about 7:40 p.m., and heard the older boy on the second-floor porch screaming for help.

The teenager had not realized he was shot and was tending to his young cousin, said Johnson.

The young boy was responding to her, she said, but he looked frightened and his face was pale. "I just started crying," she said.

Authorities had a suspect in custody last night and were questioning him, said police Superintendent Rafael Ruiz. Parson may have been the target in the shooting.

On June 30, a 7-year-old boy was struck by a stray bullet when he was playing kickball with friends outside his home near Parker Street in Roxbury. Two men were arrested in what police called a gang shooting. The 7-year-old recovered from his injuries.

On June 19, a 5-month-old girl was shot while in the arms of her father, who was also shot, in their Fairlawn Avenue home in Mattapan.

Since Jan. 1, at least 39 people in Boston aged 17 and younger have been shot, according to police records.

On Aug. 5, four teenagers ages 15 and 16 were shot as they sat on the porch of their Wardman Road home, a few blocks away from Bragdon Street.

"If you look back . . . there have been some issues in the area," Ruiz said last night. He also said the age of the victims was troubling.

"It's sad when it happens to anyone, but when it happens to a child . . . it's just that much more sad," he said.

Passersby surrounded the scene of last night's shooting, just across from a Walgreen's on Columbus Avenue, expressing alarm that a 4-year-old was hit.

Kirk Stokes, 45, said it was sad to see the crime scene near his home. "I'm shocked," he said. "From time to time it happens in Roxbury, but I'm shocked."

Johnson said she was packing for a trip to North Carolina when "we heard 'pow, pow.' We thought it was firecrackers." She then heard her oldest grandson scream that his cousin, nicknamed Little Farris, had been hit.

Johnson said she had heard gunfire outside her home before. An alley next to her home runs parallel to Columbus Avenue, and she said teenagers have fired in the direction of that street before. But she never thought her grandchild would be struck.

"We're always sitting out here on the side," she said.

The Bragdon Street violence was followed by several other shootings in Boston last night.

An unidentified man in his 20s was shot several times at 110 Hamilton St. in Dorchester, police spokesman David Estrada said.

He was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he was reported in serious condition.

Also last night, an unidentified male was shot in the shoulder on Harvard Street in Mattapan, according to Estrada.

He was taken to Boston Medical Center with injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening.

Globe correspondents Jeannie M. Nuss, Gabrielle T. Dunn, and Kate O'Neill Augusto and Maria Cramer of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.