Evans expressed surprise at the timing of the shooting, at the height of the morning commute just feet from bustling Blue Hill Avenue. He said he had hoped Tuesday's mixture of snow, rain and sleet, and cold temperatures would reduce the likelihood of violence breaking out in the city.

The young men were walking on Wilmore Street shortly before 9 a.m. when two people drove up and opened fire, said Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans, who spoke to reporters at the scene.

A double shooting in Mattapan Tuesday morning turned fatal after one of the two victims died of his injuries at Boston Medical Center, police said.


"Obviously, we worry all the time about retaliation, but you know it's sort of a lousy day," Evans said. "I was still hoping it would be a quiet day. It's obviously disturbing when you have these [at] 9 o'clock on an early morning."

Evans said gang unit officers were part of the investigation but a motive for the double shooting was not immediately clear. Both shooting victims had been involved with the Department of Youth Services, according to two people familiar with the investigation who asked not to be named because they did not have authority to speak to the media. Both were living in a foster home, the sources said.

DYS spokeswoman Rhonda Mann declined to comment, other than to say: "The Department of Youth Services is working closely with law enforcement following today's shooting in Mattapan."

A person familiar with the investigation said an occupant in a black Acura asked the men where they were from before the shooting started. Police are looking for the Acura, which was seen speeding away from the scene.

"It's unfortunate," Evans said. "This area has been pretty quiet lately, and [the shooting] troubles me."


The man who died had been shot in the upper body, and the second victim was struck in his lower extremities, Evans said.

A Wilmore Street resident who said he came to the aid of the victims just after the shooting said the surviving man was hit in the stomach.

The resident, who declined to be identified by name, said he was at home when he heard six shots. He rushed out of his house and saw one of the victims running down the street, screaming that he had been shot. He saw the second person, more seriously hurt, "crouch down and then fall down."

The resident, who said he had been the victim of a shooting 10 years ago, said he urged the less seriously hurt victim to lie down and wait for help. "He kept talking to me," the resident said. "He kept asking me if he was going to be OK."

The other victim, whose wounds would prove fatal, did not speak.

"He kept moaning. . . . As I was talking to him, he would moan a little bit," the resident said. "But by the time police arrived, he was not really responding at all."

The Wilmore Street resident said he ran toward the gunfire because when he was shot, strangers came to help him.

"I got shot some years back and people helped me," he said. "Plus, you know, people need help. And you help them if you can."

Another resident, Ajaia Browder, said she did not see the shooting but saw and heard its aftermath from her home about four houses away from where the two men were fired upon. Browder said when she came outside her home, both victims were lying in the street. A third person stood with a cellphone, telling them police were being called, she said.


"There were two guys lying in the street, and one was really in pain and someone was standing over him," she said. "They were yelling at the top of their lungs. . . . It was a mess."

Browder said police officers rushed to the more seriously wounded victim and started providing first aid while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

"The police were pushing on his chest," Browder said.

Browder said she had lived on Wilmore Street for the past nine years, and said the block had been relatively peaceful until Tuesday.

"I've seen one drive-by [shooting] happen. The SWAT team kicked in the door next to me [and] this house was raided. That was about as bad as it's ever been," she said.

Concerned that a suspect may be inside 19 Wilmore St., police searched the building, but no one was found inside.

Hironeli Dominguez, 40, who lives at 19 Wilmore St., said police entered her first-floor unit with a search dog. Dominguez pointed to a hole below her window where a bullet struck the house.

Police recovered a pellet pistol from behind the building, but it was unclear whether it played any role in the shooting.


Wilmore Street has seen violence in the past, according to Boston police reports. In the summer of 2013, a man was shot outside the home where the pellet pistol was recovered. And on Sept. 21, 2008, 27-year-old Eduardo J. Escobar of Allston was shot to death. No one has been arrested in Escobar's death, officials said.

Evans said police were reviewing security camera footage but asked for the public's help. He asked people to contact police and leave an anonymous tip at 1-800-494-TIPS or to call the police homicide unit.

John R. Ellement of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Jan Ransom can be reached at jan.ransom@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jan_Ransom.