July 15, 2003
A man wanted for a July Fourth shooting at Carson Beach that left a Dorchester teenager dead and two other men wounded remains at large this week. The suspect, Hoang "Henry" Tran, 26, is from Malden, but has deep roots in Dorchester, where he runs a busy hardwood floor business.
Investigators say Tran is the gunman who opened fire on a group of rivals just after 10 p.m. on the Fourth of July during an impromptu fireworks show at the beach. Tran allegedly blasted at a group of men, hitting two of them. One bullet also hit 15 year-old Tony On, whom sources say was not Tran's intended target.
While announcing an arrest warrant for Tran last week, Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said that the incident did not seem to be gang related.
"There is no evidence at this time to suggest that the motive for the dispute between Hoang Tran and the group he was firing at was related to a gang turf war," Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley said in a statement. "Rather, the information suggests that the motive was a dispute that arose suddenly that night. Further, there is no information to suggest that Tony On was affiliated with any gang."
Tony On was on a grassy area near Day Boulevard- between Tran and the group he was shooting at- when he was hit, Conley says. Also wounded were a 22-year-old Dorchester man and an 18-year-old Dorchester man. Both sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Despite investigator's belief that On's murder was not gang related, streetworkers familiar with Asian gangs in Dorchester remain concerned that more violence could follow. Several fights preceded the July 4th shooting this summer, according to one source who works with Vietnamese teens, and the ongoing dispute has been escalated by the Carson Beach incident.
"We are grateful that no retaliation has happened yet," said the source. "But parents should know that the situation is hot- and that it remains dangerous."
Conley said that Tran is now considered to be "a fugitive from justice." Police executed a search warrant on Tran's house in Malden last week and seized a van believed to be owned by him, Conley said.
Anyone with information on Tran's whereabouts should contact the state police detectives assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office at 617-727-8817.
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