The Medford Police Department is searching for the individual who fired eight gunshots near 364 Boston Avenue around 1 a.m. on Friday morning. The incident occurred next to Pizza Days, a popular, late-night pizza shop frequented by Tufts students on weekend nights.
“Around 1 a.m. on November 1, 2024, while conducting a routine patrol, two officers heard approximately eight gunshots in the vicinity of 364 Boston Avenue,” the Medford Police Department wrote in a Friday press release. “All officers responded to the scene and carried out a thorough investigation with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police and the Tufts University Police Department.”
According to Medford Police, witnesses reported seeing the suspect flee campus toward Bellevue Avenue. During the investigation, officers were able to recover a firearm and several shell casings at the scene. So far, no injuries or arrests have been reported in relation with the incident.
“State and local authorities are continuing to investigate the incident, and TUPD will work closely with law enforcement and increase patrols of the area out of an abundance of caution to ensure our community’s safety,” Yolanda Smith, chief of police & executive director of public safety, wrote in an email to the Tufts community on Friday afternoon.
First-year Tanushree Taparia said that she and her friends were inside Pizza Days when they heard gunshots. Initially, they thought it was the sound of firecrackers.
“We all just hid behind the counter because we didn’t know what was happening,” she said. “We were all just really scared … about everything that was happening.”
In an interview with the Daily, Assish, the manager of Pizza Days, said that the store was teeming with students in the moments before shots were fired.
“There [were] a lot of Tufts students out on the parking lot and inside the store. I was busy making pizza, and I heard two loud bangs outside, and everybody scattered,” he said. “I thought it was some fireworks or something, so I went out to check what’s going on. I didn’t see anybody over there, but I saw a cop car pull over right next to the garage, and two policemen came out with the guns drawn out, and they were telling everybody [to show] their hands. They walked towards me and asked me to show my [hands].”
According to Assish, some students rushed into the store and hid in the back room until officers cleared the scene. Over his 10 years working as the manager of Pizza Days, Assish said that he has never experienced an incident like this.
“[Students] looked scared. They were hiding, and they were ducking behind the oval in the back room. … They might have seen something; I don’t know, but I didn’t see anything. I just heard the commotion,” he recounted.
Both Smith and the Medford Police Department encourage anyone with further information about the incident to contact the Medford Police Department Division at 781-391-6767.
