NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — New Bedford Police are investigating a shooting that occurred in the city early this morning that sent six people to the hospital.

Police said that at about 1 a.m., officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation in near the intersection of Russell Street and Acushnet Avenue, in the area of the Monte’s Park playground.

The officers arrived to find three adult victims suffering from wounds that were not life-threatening. Those three victims were transported to the hospital, where police learned three additional adult victims had arrived by private vehicle.

Police said the scene was secured as members of the detective division took over and that the investigation remains very active.

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New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell issued a statement on Monday morning’s shooting.

“The shooting early this morning at Monte’s Park was a brazen act of violence. While we are relieved that no one was seriously injured, we will not sit idly by in the face of threats to public safety,” Mitchell said. “Chief (Paul) Oliveira and I, along with senior police leadership and Councilor Brian Gomes, visited the scene, and the department is rapidly responding, both there and elsewhere.”

“We will track down those responsible and hold them accountable, and we will take all necessary and appropriate steps to address the risk of retaliation,” Mitchell said. “We will not permit a few people to deprive our residents of their sense of security.”

On Saturday night, police responded to several fights and disturbances in that same area.

“The Bay Village/Monte’s Park area was heavily populated on Saturday evening due to Cape Verdean Recognition Day,” police said in a statement to WBSM. “Several fights/disturbances occurred throughout the night, which were handled by officers on the scene.”

In an appearance on WBSM’s Barry Richard Show Monday afternoon, Councilor Gomes said that not only is he outraged at this morning’s shooting, he’s also outraged at the behavior of those who were involved in the Saturday night incidents, citing things such as people spitting in police officers’ faces.

“Some disrespect went on. I’ll say it as chair of the public safety committee, the men and women of the New Bedford Police Department took a lot Saturday night to stand down and not take action that I believe should have been taken,” he said. “They instead chose to calm the crowd, get them to go home and do what they have to do, but the disrespect shown to them was nasty.”

Crime Rate Statistics in SouthCoast Towns

Here are the crime rate statistics for SouthCoast communities, utilizing data from 2022, the most recent year available. Annual data is from the Massachusetts Crime Statistics. The number of crimes is a data collection of total arrests, DUI/OUI charges, violent crimes, and hate crimes. The clearance rate is the number of charged crimes divided by the total number of crimes recorded. We listed the SouthCoast towns alphabetically.

Gallery Credit: Ariel Dorsey

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