Viet Refugee Reportedly Involved in Family Dispute : Boston Gunman Kills 5 People, Himself

A man opened fire with an automatic weapon in a Boston neighborhood Sunday, killing four relatives and another woman and critically wounding two other relatives before taking his own life, authorities said.

A Vietnamese interpreter called to the scene by police said the gunman was a Vietnamese refugee involved in a dispute with family members over money, but police said they had no information about a possible motive.

The 23-year-old man shot four people outside a home in the city’s Dorchester section, then ran into the dwelling, witnesses and police said. He shot three people inside the house before committing suicide after a two-hour standoff with police, Deputy Police Supt. Robert O’Toole said.

Identity Not Disclosed

The gunman’s identity was not immediately released and those of the victims were being withheld.

But police spokeswoman Jane Sheehan said the gunman killed his 52-year-old uncle, 48-year-old aunt, two female cousins, age 23 and 26, and a 24-year-old woman visiting the family.

She said police did not know who owned the house or whether the gunman was living there with the relatives.

“Bullets were flying around our heads,” said paramedic Juli Nichols, who responded to the emergency call.

Joe Munroe, the driver of a tow truck parked on the street, jumped out of the vehicle, picked up a 3-year-old girl who was shot and ran through gunfire to hand the girl to his sister, who carried her to rescuers around the corner, Nichols said.

Shot on Porch

A woman was found shot on a porch across the street from the house where the gunman holed up, O’Toole said.

Inside, police found a woman shot in a stairwell, the uncle shot in a hallway and a third woman shot in a bedroom of the apartment in which the gunman apparently shot himself in the head, O’Toole said.

A 9-millimeter gun was found next to his body.

A 19-year-old man was in critical condition at Boston City Hospital, Sheen said. The 3-year-old girl was in critical condition at New England Medical Center, a spokeswoman said.

DiWanna Salmons, 14, who lives across the street from the three-story, six-apartment building used by the gunman, said she was returning home and thought she heard firecrackers exploding when she saw the gunman, wearing a trench coat with a rifle barrel protruding from one of the sleeves.

“He came running at me,” the crying teen-ager said as she was comforted by relatives. “He chased me into my yard, but he slipped on a piece of board. He shot at me, but nothing came out of the gun.”

Two other neighbors said they rushed to aid the woman who was shot outside the house.

One of them, Nancy Feeney, said the gunman fired several shots at the woman’s head after she had been felled by the first shot.

After the gunman rushed into the house, the women said they heard windows breaking and people yelling: “Get back, Get back.” The man then fired additional shots into the street, they said.