A 19-year-old Chelsea man died and seven people were injured after gunshots erupted near a first-floor apartment at 120 Washington Ave., authorities said. The shooting occurred during a raucous gathering in a vacant apartment that featured loud music, neighbors said. Police said minors were present.

“Help me! Help me! Help him! Help him!” a woman was yelling on the street, Moore said. Other neighbors called the police, who arrived to find the ruins of a late-night house party gone violently awry.

CHELSEA — Leonna Moore said she woke up around 2:30 Sunday morning to blood-curdling screams outside her Washington Avenue home.


Neighbors said a former resident of the now-vacant apartment threw the party Saturday night, though it was unclear how the ex-tenant gained entrance.

The family of Pablo Villeda confirmed that he was the teen killed in the shooting.

“One [person], a young man, was transported to Whidden Memorial Hospital with injuries that proved fatal, and seven others were transported with injuries that, at this time, are not believed to be life-threatening,” said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney’s office.

Investigators placed yellow caution tape at the spot where a blood-soaked shirt had been found. The crime scene was cleared around 4 p.m. Keith Bedford/Globe Staff/Globe Staff

The surviving victims are three males, ages 15, 18, and 22, and three females, ages 15, 17, and 18, Wark said. One of the surviving adults suffered injuries not related to gunfire while attempting to flee, Wark said.

Neighbors who witnessed the chaotic scene said that person jumped out of a window after the shots rang out.

Authorities did not release any more information, including a motive for the shooting, and have not made any arrests.

“It was crazy,” said a Washington Avenue resident, who asked not to be identified. “They were playing this loud music, and then, ‘Boom! Boom! Boom!’ ”

Two friends of Pablo Villeda’s spoke about him near a home on John Street in Chelsea, where family and friends were gathering to offer condolences.


One man, who said he was Villeda’s uncle, wept as he looked at a photo of the teen. He called the shooting tragic and asked for privacy for the family.

He declined further comment, as did others who brought cards and food to the family home.

Louis Ramirez, 23, of Chelsea, was at the scene of the shooting and preparing to join the family on John Street.

He said he was heartbroken to learn that his friend had died.

“He was a very good kid. It shocked me real hard,” Ramirez said as he stood on Washington Street and faced the yellow police tape.

Ramirez said his brother had been at the Washington Avenue party but left before the shooting began.

“There is a lot of violence going on in Chelsea. It has to stop,” Ramirez said.

About 80 friends and classmates of Villeda’s gathered Sunday night at Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School in Wakefield, where he had attended school and played football. His former teammates huddled around dozens of candles and yelled “family,” friends told stories of his funniest moments, and classmates lamented the loss of so young a life.

“It was about healing. And it shows we care about him and about each other,” said Pedro Del Toro, a 19-year-old friend of Villeda’s.

Walter Campos, a 20-year-old friend, said he was still in disbelief about the shooting. He wept as friends recounted stories of Villeda, who was known as goofy and fun-loving.


“He will never be forgotten,” Campos said.

Earlier on Sunday, Nicole Charles-White, who has lived on Washington Avenue for two years, said the row houses around where the shooting occurred have long been a problem in the area.

“I come home late, and you can always hear the loud music from there,” Charles-White said. “Other than that, I find the street pretty quiet.”

Police turned passersby away at the shooting scene. Keith Bedford/Globe Staff

Throughout Sunday, police scoured the area for evidence. At a house across the street on Washington Avenue, investigators placed yellow caution tape at the spot where a blood-soaked shirt had been found, and blocked off a portion of the street where more blood was visible.

Chelsea police investigators marked a set of loudspeakers in the middle of the street as evidence and asked one Washington Avenue resident to review his outdoor surveillance camera system.

The crime scene was cleared around 4 p.m.

Moore, who had awoken to the piercing screams, said she loves her neighborhood, but the incident was frightening.

“It’s not a little scary, it’s a whole lot of scary,” she said. “All this is weighing. It’s just very close to home.”

Later in the day, police dealt with more chaos in the immediate area. Gunshots erupted from a car on Blossom Street around 1:30 p.m., though no one was injured, a Chelsea police sergeant said.

It was unclear whether those shots were related to the shooting of the previous night, and no more information was immediately available.

Blossom Street is about one block from Washington Avenue, and the proximity of the shootings left some neighbors shocked.


“Are you kidding me?” one neighbor said, as news of the second shooting spread.

Carmen Hernandez, 48, who lives on Blossom Street, said she heard two gunshots Sunday afternoon.

Hernandez called on her fellow Chelsea residents to come together to plead for gun safety and peace.

“I’ve been blessed here, but I’m not blessed to have seen what I’ve seen,” Hernandez said. “It’s just sad.”

Walter Campos (left) hugged a fellow mourner during a candle light vigil that marked the shooting death of Pablo Villeda. Dina Rudick/Globe Staff

Pedro DelToro (left) and Gui Groscos were among the students, former students, and friends of Pablo Villeda also gathered at the vigil. Dina Rudick/Globe Staff/Boston Globe

A map of the shooting scene:

Astead W. Herndon can be reached at astead.herndon@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @AsteadWH. Nicole Fleming can be reached atnicole.fleming@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @GirlEatsBoston.