DEDHAM, Mass. — A man who fired a gun inside a suburban Boston mall, striking a 15-year-old bystander twice and sending panicked shoppers fleeing from the building, has been sentenced to eight years in prison, prosecutors said.
Jose Rodriguez, 22, of Boston was sentenced Monday in Norfolk Superior Court after pleading guilty to armed assault with intent to murder and other charges in the shooting on July 3, 2020, at the South Shore Plaza in Braintree, according to a statement from the office of Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey.
“This was an outrageously reckless and dangerous act,” Morrissey said. “This defendant punched a woman in line at a store, causing an altercation between parties. He stepped away, retrieved the loaded firearm he was carrying and fired six times in the thick of the mall.”
A 15-year-old girl, described as an innocent bystander, survived being struck in the chest and hand.
“It is only a matter of luck that the innocent girl who was shot, or any number of others in the area at the time, were not killed by these actions,” Morrissey said.
Rodriguez fled, but was seen ditching a fanny pack in a bush near a parking garage, which was later recovered with a gun inside, authorities said.
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