A Canton man has been charged in the fatal Fourth of July shooting of Cantabrigian Xavier Bautista, though officials say the arrested man is just one of several involved in the killing.
Rayquon Brown, 29, of Canton, has been arrested and charged with murder, carrying a firearm without a license, being an armed career criminal, and conspiring to commit murder, said Middlesex district attorney Marian Ryan and Cambridge acting police commissioner Pauline Wells on Monday.
Bautista was shot at 4:30 a.m. Saturday at Broadway and Norfolk Street in The Port neighborhood. The body lay there until a 911 call alerted police at 5:26 a.m., police said. Scanner reports show first responders were on the scene just one minute later, but Bautista was dead when they arrived, and declared so at 5:33 a.m.
An autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be two gunshot wounds, officials said.
The subsequent investigation, including witness interviews and a review of available video evidence, revealed that Xavier Bautista left his home around 4 a.m. wearing his navy-blue Cambridge Department of Public Works work attire when he was confronted by multiple men wearing masks who shot and killed him. The parties and the defendant fled the scene in a white Dodge Ram pickup truck.
Investigators were able to identify Brown and his vehicle as being present at the shooting, officials said. During the shooting, Brown allegedly acted as a lookout and potential backup – holding an object that appears to be a gun and at one point holding it outstretched as if aiming it.
“There is no known connection between the defendant and the victim, and the motive is still under investigation,” the officials said Monday.
A Cambridge police spokesperson said the department “recognizes that this incident is very troubling and has raised concerns about community safety, particularly from those in The Port neighborhood. In response, the CPD has increased patrols in and around the area in an effort to provide reassurance.”
Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the police at (617) 349-3300. Anonymous tips can be shared through phone, text or email through instructions at cambridgepolice.org.
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