http://brightcove.vo.llnwd.net/d21/unsecured/media/245991542/245991542_2255583997001_130326-schworm-roxburyshooting-full.mp4?pubId=245991542&videoId=2255499856001

One arrested after officers find themselves in barrage of gunfire in Roxbury. (Peter Schworm/Globe Staff)

At least one Boston police officer fired his gun this afternoon after finding himself in the middle of a shooting on a street in Roxbury, police said. One person has been arrested and several others are being questioned.

Police said the shots rang out at 2:56 p.m. near the corner of Warren and Waverly streets.

A group of four to five people were shooting at an individual near a bus stop. A group of two or three others were also shooting. It wasn’t clear if they were also shooting at the individual near the bus stop or if they were shooting at the other group, said Boston Police Superintendent-in-Chief Daniel Linskey.


When two officers arrived, one officer, after being threatened, fired his gun, said Linskey.

“It was a harrowing scene,’’ he said.

He said police were trying to determine whether shots had been fired at the officer.

One handgun was recovered. No one was injured despite the barrage of gunfire.

The two officers involved were youth violence strike force officers, said a law enforcement official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation.

Kenny Roberts, 31, lives just up the street from the shooting. He said he heard an initial two gunshots and then anywhere from 15 to 20 shots.

A woman was visiting Roberts’s building to look at an apartment at the time of the shooting. He came downstairs to find her cowering in the front hall, screaming, “Help me, help me!’’

He let her inside the building and then went outside.

Roberts saw a police officer leap from his vehicle, chasing a suspect. The suspect discarded a gun in the street.

There was a second group nearby. They may have thought the suspect was shooting at them and fired their guns as well, Roberts said.

“The police were sandwiched in between gunfire,’’ he said. “When I came down, they were chasing him down the street.’’


There have been incidents in the neighborhood before, Roberts said. “But nothing like this, in broad daylight.’’