Quincy man charged after stashing loaded gun in bush on Tremont Street

By Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondent

A Quincy man is facing gun charges after he stashed a loaded firearm in a bush in Boston on Saturday night, Suffolk County prosecutors said today.

John T. Murrett, 26, allegedly stowed his legally-owned gun in a bush near a Tremont Street playground after security at a nearby nightclub barred him from entering while carrying the weapon, the office of District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said. When Murrett returned to the makeshift cache, the gun was gone.

John T. Murrett (Boston police)

Murrett allegedly tried to enter Club Royale with a Ruger LC9 semiautomatic handgun, but was turned away by club security after a pat down, according to prosecutors. Murrett then walked a few blocks away, placed the gun under a bush, and returned to the club.

Around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Murrett returned to the front door of the club and asked if anyone had turned in a firearm, officials said. He allegedly told security personnel that the gun had been stolen from his car. When police arrived, Murrett told police he left the gun in a bush, officials said.

“I always carry a firearm everywhere I go,” Murrett allegedly told police. He also said that the gun was loaded with “seven bullets in the mag[azine] and one in the chamber,” prosecutors said.

When Murrett was placed under arrest, police also seized his license to carry a firearm, Conley’s office said.

“If the facts as we understand them are true, this was an act of staggering irresponsibility,” Conley said in a statement. “It means there’s yet another loaded gun on the streets of Boston, ready to be used in a robbery, a shooting, or worse. If anyone knows the whereabouts of that firearm, or any other illegal firearm, we urge them to call police and report it.”

According to Conley spokesman Jake Wark, Murrett is “entitled to have the firearm under his control outside of home or work,” but the law prohibits storing a gun “in any place unless such weapon is secured in a locked container or equipped with a tamper-resistant mechanical lock or other safety device, properly engaged so as to render such weapon inoperable by any person other than the owner or other lawfully authorized user.”

Murrett pleaded not guilty to a charge of improper storage of a firearm at Boston Municipal Court this morning and was released on his own recognizance.