Police investigate 4 deaths in Dorchester

Victims killed in 2 weekend shootings

A man and two women were shot as they sat in a vehicle outside this house on Mount Ida Road in Dorchester yesterday, authorities said. (Bill Brett for The Boston Globe)

Boston police are investigating the killings of four people in two weekend shootings, one of the most violent periods in the city in recent months.

On Saturday at 8:05 p.m., police were called about a person in need of medical assistance in an apartment on Ogden Street in Dorchester. There, police said they found 26-year-old Okwudill Onujiogwie of Boston with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

About eight hours later, police and ambulances swarmed the Meetinghouse Hill area of Dorchester after a man and two women were shot as they sat in a vehicle outside a party on Mount Ida Road, authorities said. The three victims, who were in their late teens or early 20s, were pronounced dead shortly after they were rushed to Boston Medical Center, said police spokesman James Kenneally.

The four deaths brought the number of homicides in the city this year to 12, com pared with 15 this time last year.

"This is a very tragic situation," Dot Joyce, spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino said of the fatal shootings. "It was a tough night in the city of Boston."

Joyce said police have been working to solve the killings, and that the mayor has been in touch with the police commissioner about the crimes. She said Boston police plan to monitor social websites, such as MySpace, more closely to look for the advertisement of parties.

It was at 4:07 a.m. yesterday when officers responded to a report of gunshots outside 41 Mount Ida Road, near the intersection of Fox Street. Officers quickly confirmed that several people were shot inside a car. Police declined to release the names of the victims.

A fourth person in the vehicle survived the attack, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation. She was not shot, they said. The officials said detectives believe the shooting followed a confrontation.

Police have been interviewing many of the party attendees at Boston police headquarters. A neighbor said partygoers were taken by bus.

By noon yesterday, all appeared quiet on Mount Ida Road, a densely populated street that leads to Ronan Park. The vehicle in which the shootings occurred had been towed away. No one at the three-decker where the party reportedly took place answered the door.

No further information was available yesterday on the Saturday night shooting of Onujiogwie on Ogden Street.

Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, said prosecutors have been in contact with Boston police detectives regarding both shootings.

Police are urging anyone with information about the killings to call the homicide unit at 617-343-4470.

James Vaznis can be reached at jvaznis@globe.com.