It was 2 a.m. Sunday night on Central Avenue in Chelsea.
Braulio Gomez, 38, a Chelsea man known as Easy-B was seated on his porch at 104 Central Avenue minding his own business, socializing on a hot summer night, when another Chelsea man approached.
Santos Portillo, 21, came out of nowhere. He confronted Gomez. Words were exchanged.
When the two were face to face, Portillo produced a gun, and pointed it at Gomez sitting two or three feet away.
Portillo aimed and pulled the trigger.
Gomez fell dead right where he was sitting.
As Gomez lay dying on his porch, Portillo fled into the darkness of the early night. Another man with him also ran away, according to witnesses.
Police are searching for Portillo. They even released a photograph of him and passed it around the neighborhood.
In fact, they took Portillo’s companion into custody and, according to sources, that young man fearing for his life if he spoke to police, was placed in a downtown Boston hotel for his own protection.
But this bit of good police work apparently failed.
Portillo’s companion fled and hasn’t yet been apprehended – nor has Portillo.
They are both at-large.
Local residents who knew B-Easy wondered aloud why something like this could happen when Gomez had no business whatsoever with Portillo?
Do people who don’t know one another come out of the dark and shoot an innocent for no reason as he sits on his porch on Central Avenue?
Apparently so.
“B-Easy was the most easy going well liked guy around. He always wore sunglasses. He waved at you even if he didn’t know you,” said a local resident who wished to remain unnamed. “He was very friendly. Didn’t have an enemy in the world that I could see,” he added.
“He was a family type guy and often sat with his brother and sister who lived at 104,” said a source.
Portillo is another story, according to local residents.
But what was the connection, if any between Portillo and Gomez?
“There was no connection,” said a source.
Sources insist that MS-13 people – and the suspicion is that Portillo is MS-13 – don’t need a reason to shoot someone. Ms-13 gang members are known to shoot people they don’t know just for the thrill of killing, added a source.
“MS-13 starts trouble with anyone. Santos Portillo pulled up argued with Gomez.
Why would a random guy just shoot another random guy? They kill for fun. They start trouble and just kill him. That’s exactly what Portillo did,” said the source.
People knew he was MS-13, neighbors told reporters.
“I think he could be in Chelsea but if not in Chelsea he’s in the area. The area is flooded with MS-13,” said the source.
The sentiment on Central Avenue Wednesday is that B-Easy’s bullet to the head ending his life was senseless and brutal – a testament to the times when life has become so cheap for gang members wanting to make their mark.
“It was the most unexpected thing and a sad thing,” said the source.
“B-Easy was known never to have started trouble. Nobody understands why this happened,” he said.
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