“There have been no formal charges filed yet,” Campbell said.

The case has gotten a lot of attention from news media and on social media, he said.

Requesting the gag order was “just the right thing to do to protect my client, but also his family as well,” he said.

Officers commended for professionalism

McDermott commended police for the hundreds of hours they spent investigating the three violent crimes.

Crime can’t always be prevented, but people should trust the police to do their jobs, the mayor said. The Police Department updates a crime map on its website every day, and information about the homicide and rapes was posted to the map like any other crime, he said.

Doughty thanked his officers, federal partners and task forces for their diligent work.

“Law enforcement has no crystal ball to see and predict every crime,” he said. “But we can and should be judged by our response.”

Every investigation is a process, and detectives followed the leads and solved three violent crimes, he said.