A 91-year-old local civil rights icon was “stabbed multiple times” in Franklin Park while walking her dog Tuesday evening, according to Boston police and multiple media outlets.
The victim, who is recovering from the attack, was identified Wednesday by The Boston Globe as Jean McGuire, the longtime leader of Boston’s Metco program and the first woman of color to be elected to the Boston School Committee.
Officers responded to the scene at 25 Playstead Road in Jamaica Plain around 8:30 p.m. after receiving a report of an unconscious person, the department said in a release.
McGuire, who was attacked by an unknown suspect, was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said. McGuire’s friend, Jeriline Brady Mcginnis, told the Globethat McGuire fought off her attacker with the help of her dog, Bailey.
“[Jean] attacked this guy. She was kicking him in the nuts while Bailey was working him over. And he tried to run, and the dog chased him. And [the attacker] disappeared out of sight,” Mcginnis said. “Bailey stood up for her.”
Police believe that the suspect may have been injured during the attack.
In a report obtained by the Globe, police said McGuire was discovered by people coming from the nearby Franklin Park Zoo. McGuire was able to ask for help and the passersby called 911, police wrote.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden met with McGuire at Beth Israel Hospital Wednesday. He spoke with reporters shortly afterward, informing the press that she is in recovery.
“On a positive note, Ms. McGuire is as spunky and as vibrant as ever, and is going to be just fine,” he said.
Hayden referenced other acts of violence in the area recently, including the high school student shot in Dorchester and the 14-year-old boy fatally shot in Roxbury.
“I’m certainly outraged,” he said. “ I think we have to be at the point where we have an entire community that is equally as outraged and will not stand for this sort of random violence any further.”
