Braintree Police say a 26-year-old man has died after a shooting at the South Shore Plaza.
Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey says the man has been identified as Dijoun Beasley, of Dorchester. He says Beasley was shopping inside a retail store on the main floor of the Plaza when he was shot by an unknown male suspect.
Deputy Braintree Police Chief Tim Cohoon says they responded around 3 p.m. on Saturday.
“Inside the South Shore Plaza, inside one of the stores, there was an encounter between two males,” said Cohoon. “One male produced a firearm, and shot the other male.”
Cohoon says this appears to be a targeted incident, there was no further immediate threat to the public.
Beasley was transported to a Boston Hospital in grave condition.
“The suspect who fired the shot, as best as we can tell, immediately left the mall,” said Cohoon. “The mall did go into lockdown, we had officers on scene very quickly.”
Police and fire departments from surrounding communities, MetroLEC SWAT, Braintree Fire, and Brewster Ambulance provided mutual aid at the scene. This is the third shooting since 2017 at the South Shore Plaza.
Braintree Mayor Charles Kokoros commented on the incidents during a press conference.
“I will say that this is unacceptable. We will be working directly with the South Shore Plaza, Simon Properties to come up with solutions to these problems,” said Kokoros. “It’s a place that people should be able to go and shop safely. We should not have gunshots being fired while people are out shopping and enjoying their Saturday.”
In July of 2020, a 15-year-old girl was struck in the hand and chest when a man fired a gun at the Plaza. She was an innocent bystander, and suffered non-life threatening injuries. Jose Rodriguez, 22, admitted guilt to the charges against him after that shooting, and was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Michael Spence was sentenced to prison for his role in a February 2017 shooting at the Plaza. There were no injuries in that incident.
Braintree police are following leads after Saturday’s incident. Anyone with information should contact Braintree Detectives or State Police.
