Salem 'Remains A Safe Place' Despite Recent Shootings: Police Chief

SALEM, MA — Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller sought to assure residents that the city "remains a safe place" despite two shootings this month that left a Salem State student-athlete dead and another man hospitalized with a gunshot wound.

Miller said in a message to the community that while he can "understand and appreciate those concerns" from residents for whom the violence "can feel like a trend" and "have heightened concerns over safety in Salem" the shootings were not related and reiterated the department stance that there was no ongoing threat to the public in the immediate aftermath of either of them.

In the early morning hours following Halloween night, Salem police responded to a report of shots fired and a car crashed into a retaining wall on Forest Street near Salem State University. Carl Hens Beliard, 18, a basketball player who was a member of the state champion Worcester North team and was a freshman sport and movement major at SSU, was rushed to Salem Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A man was hospitalized with what was described as a non-life-threatening wound after being shot in a Horton Street driveway on Monday.

Miller noted that a suspect in the Nov. 1 shooting was identified and arrested that day and that the second shooting "is still very much under investigation."

"I am confident that the perpetrators will be caught and brought to justice," Miller said. "What is clear is that the incidents are not related."

"I have also heard complaints that the department has not been forthcoming enough about why we occasionally state 'there is no ongoing threat to the public' after an incident, when some in the public may fear that there is," Miller said. "To be clear: we can never say that there is no danger out there. Given the state of the world, the availability of guns, the mental health crisis, and the limits of the criminal justice system, that just isn't realistic.

"However, what we can say is that we believe that the threat posed by perpetrators of an incident is over for the time being. This may be because we know who they are or where they are, as was the case with the homicide on Nov. 1. It may also be, based on the manner and direction of the perpetrators’ flight, that we believe they have left Salem, as was the case with the Nov. 13 shooting."

Miller said that there will be times when details behind an announcement cannot be shared because they might compromise an investigation and that, in those cases, "I ask for your trust and confidence, and I am honored that you give it to me."

He said that when there is an active shooter situation or there is believed to be a threat at large then that information will be shared with the public.

"Despite the extensive news coverage and social media commentary, Salem, my adopted home, and the place I've sworn to protect and serve, remains a safe place," he said. "The Salem Police Department takes any incident of gun violence seriously.

"We dedicate our efforts and resources to both preventing violent crime and, should such an incident occur, investigating and apprehending those responsible."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)