BOSTON — A man charged in connection with a mass shooting in Boston last month that left five people injured, including a young brother and sister, has been ordered held on $1 million bail, officials said.
Gianni Johnson, 24, of Dorchester, was arraigned Tuesday morning in Dorchester District Court on charges including five counts of assault to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device, unlawful possession of a machine gun, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, according to Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden.
Members of the Boston Police Homicide Unit, Boston Police Fugitive Unit, Lynn Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Office arrested Johnson on Monday night.
Investigators are still searching for Micah Ennis, 24, of South Boston, who is wanted on warrants charging him with five counts of assault to murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition, unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device, unlawful possession of a machine gun, and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, the Boston Police Department said.
Ennis is described as Black, about 6 feet, 2 inches tall, 280 pounds, with a heavy build.
Officers responding to a report of a shot spotter activation in the area of 50 Ames Street around 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 found five people suffering from gunshot wounds in a courtyard, police said.
Those who were injured were transported to local hospitals.
Johan Howard, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Charles Taylor Elementary in Mattapan, has since been released from Boston Children’s Hospital after being shot in the leg. Juliana Howard, a 15-year-old sophomore at the Community Academy of Science and Health in Dorchester, is on a ventilator in critical condition at Boston Medical Center.
She remains in critical condition at Boston Medical Center, but Howard’s uncle says his 15-year-old niece seems to be recovering from four gunshot wounds.
“She’s opening her eyes, she’s responding a little,” said Luis Montanez. “She’s moving her hands. She moves her head. She kicks her legs.”
In a statement, Hayden said, “The brutality of sending bullets flying where people were gathered and children were playing should shock and outrage all of us and should unite us—and I mean all of us, from every community and every sector and every level of society—against the glut of illegal guns in our city and the people so willing to use them. We need to recognize and treat gun violence as a societal epidemic. How else can we describe a brother and sister shot while playing outside their home on a warm late-summer evening?”
The mother of the children, Joanna Algarin, spoke with Boston 25 following the shooting and said, “No mother should be going through what I’m going through. I don’t wish this on anyone.”
Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox added, “We commend the cooperation from the residents of our City who are fed up with these reckless acts, and the incredible work and dedication of our Homicide Unit who have been working this case around the clock. We realize this can’t erase the pain and suffering of the children and adults who were injured in this outrageous shooting. The Boston Police Department will continue to work to hold all of those responsible accountable for violence in our neighborhoods.”
Montanez wasn’t unhappy with the arrest -- but he wasn’t especially heartened by it, either.
“Mass shootings, nothing gets done,” Montanez said. “So why speak of it? It frustrates me because justice is not going to be justice. Obviously it’s going to happen again to somebody else’s family. That’s where I get upset because why should somebody else’s family have to go through something like this?”
Anyone with information is strongly urged to contact Boston Police Homicide Detectives at 617-343-4470.
Johnson is due back in court on Nov. 2 for a probable cause hearing.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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