Two arrested for gun violence in long South End/Roxbury gang war, authorities say

A man with alleged ties to a South End gang was arrested today on charges he participated in a shooting on Shawmut Avenue on Jan. 14, according to Boston Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office, which report a second man, with alleged ties to a rival Roxbury gang, was arrested yesterday on charges he tried and failed to shoot somebody around the corner on Trotter Court a couple weeks later.

More arrests could be coming as authorities try to break up a feud between the two gangs that goes back to at least 2013 and the murder of Courtney Jackson at the Dudley Square T stop, and which may have included a double shooting this year in the Back Bay that left one dead.

Authorities now say Jackson was a member of the Roxbury gang and that one of the men convicted of second-degree murder, Jamel Bannister, was a member of the South End gang.

According to police and the DA's office, Imrahotep Wallace, 26, of Allston, and a member of the South End gang, participated in a hit on an 18-year-old man on Shawmut Avenue near Ramsay Park, around 11 a.m. on Jan. 14. Authorities say Wallace drove up to the victim so that a guy in the car with him could shoot the victim in the back. His victim, authorities say, is affiliated with Bannister and the South End gang. His victim, with ties to the rival gang, has refused to cooperate with police, they say.

The gun run came one day after Bannister's younger brother, Jamal, was himself shot to death at Gloucester and Boylston streets in the Back Bay.

Wallace is scheduled for arraignment in Roxbury Municipal Court today on charges of armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Around 7:20 a.m. on Feb. 1, officials say, Moses Jacob, 19, of Dorchester, and a member of the Roxbury gang, sprayed gunfire at somebody in a car on Trotter Court - not far from the Jan. 14 shooting scene - but missed his target.

Officers quickly caught up with Jacob, whom they say matched witness descriptions and who was "sweating, breathing heavily, and receiving multiple calls on his cell phone at the time," but initially released him because he had no gun on him.

Throughout the day, investigators recovered two spent shell casings, a magazine loaded with five rounds of ammunition, and a handgun with a round jammed in the chamber, all in the vicinity of the scene. In the days that followed, they recovered video footage from cameras in the area that show Jacobs wearing the clothing described by witnesses in a store near the scene before the shooting, on Trotter Court at the time of the shooting, and running away from the scene after the shooting, and inside the Mass Ave MBTA station after being interviewed by police.

Jacob was charged with armed assault with intent to murder, attempted assault and battery by discharging a firearm, and unlawful possession of ammunition. He was arraigned yesterday and ordered held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

In a statement, Police Commissioner William Evans noted the lack of cooperation from victims and some witnesses:

These types of incidents are often difficult to investigate. The lack of victim cooperation and witnesses can make these cases the most challenging for law enforcement. It is troubling when individuals think it is ok to pull out a gun and recklessly shoot on our streets with no regard for others. I commend the work of my detectives and investigators from the District Attorney’s office who worked tirelessly on these cases. The city is safer today with these two individuals in custody.

Innocent, etc.