In the spring of 2022, downtown Salem was shaken by two shootings. A Salem police effort to later arrest the suspect turned deadly as 16-year-old Bobby Brown fired rounds, believing rival gang members were shooting at him. Police shot and killed the teen, who was close to graduating high school.

As Salem confronts a rise in shootings and youth involvement in violence, Salem Reporter spent months digging into Bobby’s life and the circumstances that left a bright but struggling young man dead on a street in a Salem neighborhood.

Read the series here:

PART 1: A teen boy’s descent into the Salem gang underworld 

PART 2: Troubled teen ensnared in gang war that spills in downtown Salem

PART 3: Boy’s dream of leaving trouble behind dies in a gunfight with Salem police