'Terribly Heartbroken,' Mother Killed In Dorchester Shooting Identified As Aisha Shepard

BOSTON (CBS) – A woman was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting in Dorchester near the Mattapan line early Monday morning.

Boston Police were called to Irma Street around 12:30 a.m. and found a woman had been shot to death. She was later identified as 38-year-old Aisha Shepard, a mother of three from Roxbury.

Officers also found two other people with what they described as "non-life-threatening gunshot wounds."

One witness told WBZ-TV she didn't realize she had just heard a shooting.

"I had to call 911 because I heard pow, pow, pow and I said, 'No more fireworks,' she said, not wanting to be identified.

"There was no firecrackers, it was gunshots flying all over the place, it's crazy," a man, who also did not want to be identified, told WBZ.

Police said three other people checked themselves in to local hospitals with "non-life-threatening" gunshot wounds from the Irma Street incident, bringing the total number of people shot to six.

"When you wake up in the morning, don't you expect to just walk out and smell the air or something, not everything, red, yellow tape everywhere," a woman who did not want to be named told WBZ.

There have been no arrests at this time.

"We are terribly heartbroken. We wish she was still rightfully by our side," Shepard's family said in a statement.

"Aisha was in love with life and the people in her life. Now, her life has been taken. Her three minor daughters are now motherless and in a world of pain as is the rest of the family."

They said she was the oldest child of 11 siblings.

"We really can not fathom the horror of my big sister's final moments. There is no rest for our family knowing that Aisha's murderer is still at large. We would like to see a semblance of justice and due process at work for Aisha and the other 5 victims."

Shepard had a degree in criminal justice and had just signed up to take more classes.

"She believed in the judicial system and we are grateful for the efforts that are being put forward by the detectives to bring the only bit of closure that remains.
Our mother just lost her first child. To any parent, no matter what age your child is, they are always your baby. She can no longer hold her baby in her arms. It's not natural. To have life continue after your child has been senselessly murdered is what nightmares are made of. To have a father not ever be able to call his daughter and hear her answer the phone with her usual greeting, "Hello Father" again is contributing to a void that will never be filled in my parents hearts."