Crime
Prosecutors say the suspect acted as a “lookout” in the shooting.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan at a press conference in February. Pat Greenhouse / Globe Staff
A Canton man was charged Monday in connection with the July 4 fatal shooting of a Cambridge Department of Public Works employee, an incident that has renewed scrutiny of the city’s recent decision to end the use of its gunshot detection system.
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Cambridge man killed in early-morning shooting, investigators say
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Fatal Cambridge shooting renews criticism of council vote to end ShotSpotter contract
Rayquon Brown, 29, was arrested and charged with murder, carrying a firearm without a license, being an armed career criminal, and conspiring to commit murder, the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said.
Authorities said Xavier Bautista, 32, was shot around 4:30 a.m. July 4 near Broadway and Norfolk Street. An hour passed before a pedestrian discovered Bautista’s body and called 911.
Bautista, a father who worked for the city’s Public Works Department, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined he died from two gunshot wounds, prosecutors said.
An investigation, involving witness interviews and a review of available video evidence, revealed Bautista was confronted by multiple men wearing masks after leaving his home around 4 a.m. in his navy-blue Cambridge DPW uniform, according to Ryan’s office.
Authorities said the men then shot Bautista before fleeing the scene in a white Dodge Ram pickup truck.
Xavier Bautista was shot and killed in Cambridge early on July 4. – GoFundMe
Brown allegedly acted as a “lookout” and “potential backup” during the attack, according to Ryan’s office. Prosecutors allege Brown was carrying an object “consistent with a firearm” and, at one point, held the object “outstretched as if aiming it.”
Brown and Bautista did not know each other, and investigators are still working to determine a motive in Bautista’s killing, authorities said.
“The Cambridge Police Department recognizes that this incident is very troubling and has raised concerns about community safety, particularly from those in The Port neighborhood,” Ryan’s office said. “In response, the CPD has increased patrols in and around the area in an effort to provide reassurance.”
Brown was arraigned Monday morning in Cambridge District Court, where he was ordered held without bail. He is scheduled to return to court July 17, court records show.
Attorney information for Brown was not immediately available Monday afternoon.
The killing has reignited debate over ShotSpotter, the controversial gunshot detection technology that Cambridge City Council voted to stop using less than two months before Bautista’s killing.
Following the shooting, two Cambridge police unions argued that officers and emergency responders might have reached the mortally wounded victim sooner had ShotSpotter still been in operation. On other other hand, some city officials, including Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, cautioned against drawing broad conclusions based on the incident.
“I don’t believe we can draw definitive conclusions about what occurred or whether any one technology would have changed the outcome,” Siddiqui said in a statement.
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