Two vehicles exchanged gunfire and drove off in opposite directions in the Cambridgeport neighborhood, witnesses told police Saturday in recounting Cambridge’s first gunfire incident of 2026. A suspect in the incident was arrested Wednesday.
Shots were heard at around 12:40 a.m. Saturday on Chestnut Street between Hastings Square and Acorn Street, according to scanner reports, with one of three callers to 911 saying she heard six to seven shots. (Police described the incident as taking place “shortly before 1 a.m.”)
The city’s ShotSpotter surveillance technology also heard the gunfire, police said.
Officers were on the scene by 12:44 a.m., according to scanner reports, and witnesses told them of the exchange of gunfire and of one car going north on Acorn, a one-block street that leads to Putnam Avenue. The other car – possibly a BMW sport utility vehicle – was reportedly seen to “flee up Chestnut and turn … at a high rate of speed.”
Shell casings were found in front of a Chestnut Street home, and there was damage to a tree from gunfire, police said. But there were no victims reported, and police said their “preliminary investigation suggests that there is no ongoing danger to the broader community” – likely because the violence arose from an issue between the shooters, as has been the pattern in many Cambridge gun incidents.
There were six gunfire incidents in 2023 starting Jan. 9, two with no injuries or deaths; 2024 saw 13 gun incidents starting Jan. 25, nine with no injuries or deaths; and last year saw nine total gun incidents, five with no injuries or deaths.
The latest incident led to the arrest of Shawndell Johnson, 30, of Cambridge, on Wednesday, police said. An investigation “uncovered evidence that pointed to Mr. Johnson’s involvement,” police said, and “with the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, CPD detectives were able to obtain a warrant for Johnson’s arrest.”
He was taken into custody without incident and was expected to be arraigned at Cambridge District Court in Medford on Thursday, police said.
A Cambridge resident named Shawndell Johnson has been discussed by police in use-of-force reports. In 2018, police staked out the apartment rented by a Shawndell Johnson before his arrest. They referred to him as a suspected gunman.
This post was backdated. It was updated Feb. 22, 2026, to place it in the Cambridgeport neighborhood.
About The Author
