CCHS Grad Killed in Boston Shooting

Brianna Bigby, a former METCO student who graduated from Concord-Carlisle High School in 2009, was killed Saturday, June 1, in a double-shooting in Roxbury.

Police in Boston have identified Bigby, 23, of Boston, as the young woman killed in the Roxbury shooting, according to the Globe. Bigby and her boyfriend were reportedly shot around 3:22 p.m. on Saturday afternoon while inside a silver sedan on Walnut Avenue, the Globe reported.

Officials at CCHS, where Bigby attended school through the METCO program, have informed faculty of her death, got word to all METCO families, provided counseling to several Boston students and connected with Concord Middle School, where Bigby’s sister is a student, according to Principal Peter Badalament.

The school paper, the CCHS Voice, has also covered Bigby’s death.

“As a beloved member of the community, Brianna’s loss is a tragedy and many CC alums, students and faculty cherish her memory,” writes Jessic Lu of the CCHS Voice. “More than anything, Bigby is remembered for her endless potential. Many recall that she was the kind of person and student everyone knew would go on to do great things.”

Read the full CCHS Voice story here.

Bigby’s aunt, Darlene Atkins, was among those who remembered Bigby as a young woman with a bright future whose life was cut short, according to the Globe.

“It’s been hard,” Atkins reportedly said in a phone interview, “to have a precious angel like her taken away too soon, way too soon.”

Atkins also reportedly told the Globe that Bigby’s family believed the young woman’s boyfriend was the likely target of the shooting, and that her niece’s car had been shot up in an incident last year.

In considering Bigby’s death, the CCHS Voice piece delves into living with violent crime as a dichotomy between the Boston and Concord experiences. To that end, the writer shares the story of Ann Tran, a METCO student and Dorchester resident, who says sirens frequently interrupt her nightly Skype sessions.

From the CCHS Voice story:

Violent crime affects METCO students in a way that students in Concord simply can’t understand because there is just so much less exposure. Tran said, “The violence in Boston is almost weird, because it’s so close to Concord yet so far removed. When you go home in Concord, it’s fifteen minutes away and it’s quiet. When you go home in Boston, it’s at least forty-five minutes away and it’s loud and a lot of times it can be unsafe. I’ve heard gunshots outside my house, and I bet no one who lives in Concord has. Even on the bus, we’ve passed by shootouts. It’s kind of dramatic.”

METCO -- which stands for Metropolitan Coucil for Educational Opportunity -- was established in 1966 and has become a grant program funded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which aims to "expand educational opportunities, increase diversity, and reduce racial isolation, by permitting students in certain cities to attend public schools in other communities that have agreed to participate."

A Boston Police spokeswoman said earlier this week that the investigation into the double-shooting that killed Brianna Bigby is “very active,” and includes examining a possible connection to another shooting that occurred a half-mile away early that morning, according to the Globe.