Boston police identify victim of fatal shooting Monday in Brighton

By Sarah N. Mattero, Globe Correspondent

Boston police today identified the man fatally shot on Leicester Street in Brighton on Monday.

Leroy Cooper, 26, of Brewster was found by police around 5:30 p.m. on the street suffering from a gunshot wound.

Cooper was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

Cooper came to Massachusetts from California to attend college. He studied hospitality when he attended Newbury College in Brookline from 2004 to 2008 and played on the men’s volleyball team, college officials said.

On Tuesday on Leicester Street, where Cooper was discovered, residents described a chaotic scene the night before when police flooded the block.

“Thirty years living here and this is the first time that we have something like that,” said Roberto Alvarez, 75, adding that when police arrived, he could also see a car parked at an awkward angle next to a utility pole.

Rita Fahy, 89, said the street, which has three new houses under construction and is next to an elementary school, was quiet moments before police came.

“There was no excitement, until the next thing you know, bathed in blue light,” she said.

Asked if she had ever witnessed a comparable situation on the street, Fahy, who has lived there for 60 years, said, “Hardly.”

Police asked anyone with information to call 617-343-4470 or to call their anonymous tip line, 800-494-8477.