Alleged Roxbury gang member faces federal gun charge after being caught in sweep following JP double murder

A federal grand jury yesterday indicted Quantae Elmore, 21, on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

BPD officers arrested Elmore, an alleged member of Roxbury's Vine/Forest Street Gang, on May 4, during their investigation into the shooting murders of Chris Joyce and Clayborn Blair at a celebration of Joyce's impending college graduation at the Mildred Hailey Apartments in Jamaica Plain.

Plainclothes officers stopped to investigate Elmore and some other men standing near or sitting in a white Scion in Orchard Park, which matched the description of a car seen racing away from Jamaica Plain after the double murder.

According to an affidavit by an ATF agent involved in the investigation, officers recognized Ellmore as a member of the gang - an affiliate of the Orchard Park Gang, which has long feuded with the Heath Street gang based at the Hailey Apartments.

Elmore stared at the officers with "an alarmed look on his face" and began to walk away, clutching his waist with both hands, which the officers recognized as a sign he probably had a gun in his waistband. They were able to catch up with him and, found a gun in his waistband - but first they needed to call for backup because:

As Officer D’Addieco attempted to secure ELMORE and recover the gun, a group of males believed to be members of Orchard Gardens or VNF surrounded the officers and began yelling and cursing at them. Ultimately, the officers (who were forced to call for back up to assist with crowd control) were able to secure Elmore and remove the firearm from the area of his waistband.

Recovered from his waistband was a "Smith & Wesson Model 38 SPL that bore serial number R127709 and contained 5 rounds of .38 caliber ammunition" that turned out to have been from a gun shop in White River Junction, VT, according to the affidavit.

The feds were able to go after him - he now faces up to ten years in federal prison if convicted - because in 2015, when just a teenager, he was convicted in Norfolk Superior Court on charges of unarmed robbery and witness intimidation.

Elmore has been in federal custody since July 6 on the charge. Another possible Orchard Park associate, Wilvin Guity, has been charged with the double murder - in which the two men were allegedly shot as part of the long-standing gang feud even though neither had anything to do with the gangs.

Innocent, etc.