Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Two dead after shooting behind Little Building

Shortly after 2 a.m., as patrons were exiting a nearby club on Warrenton and Stuart streets across from the City Place building, Stanley Seney, 27, pulled out a gun and shot Michael Hayward, 28, according to Boston Police Department (BPD) Spokesman John Boyle.,”A shooting behind Emerson College early Monday morning left two men dead and a third injured.

Shortly after 2 a.m., as patrons were exiting a nearby club on Warrenton and Stuart streets across from the City Place building, Stanley Seney, 27, pulled out a gun and shot Michael Hayward, 28, according to Boston Police Department (BPD) Spokesman John Boyle.

Two Boston Police officers responded to the scene outside the club Venu and encountered Seney, who was firing his weapon, police said. The two officers shot Seney in order to disable him, police said. According to Boyle, both men later died at area hospitals.

The officers are being treated for stress-related injuries and have been placed on leave while the department investigates the event, according to a BPD statement released Monday.

Emerson College Director of Public Safety William McCabe said Boston police believe both men had been at the club prior to the incident. McCabe said he had no further information about the shooting, which is currently under investigation by the BPD.

Boyle said both Seney and Hayward were armed.

Hayward died at Massachusetts General Hospital shortly after the shooting, Boyle said. A third person, whose name has not been released, suffered non-life-threatening injuries, Boyle said.

The shooting, which took place about a block behind the Little Building, was unsettling for many Emerson students.

Sophomore musical theatre major Anna Harris first became aware of the incident after she read an e-mail McCabe sent to students and staff detailing the event.

"I didn't hear any gunshots, but I heard sirens and a lot of shouting," said Harris, whose room in the Little Building faces Tremont Street. "I thought [the commotion] was a little strange for a Sunday night."

Junior broadcast journalism major Heather Drobiarz said she also got an earful when she was awakened by loud bangs outside her apartment on Warrenton Street, directly above where the shooting occurred.

"It felt like five minutes of straight gunshots," Drobiarz said.

Drobiarz, who moved into her apartment on Sept. 1, said an officer at the scene advised her to move out.

"He said, 'It's a lot better in this area than it used to be, but worse things go on that we don't know about,'" Drobiarz said.

McCabe said Monday's incident was not the first disturbance to occur in proximity to Emerson. In 2001, shots were fired on Beacon Street outside a Fisher College building, wounding a Fisher student, McCabe said.

In recent years, there have been two fatal stabbings near the college-one outside the Loews Theatre on Boston Common in 2002 and one on the corner of Boylston and Tamworth streets in 2003, McCabe said.

Incidents like these are part of the reason why Katie O'Connor, a junior acting major who lives off campus on the corner of Arlington and Isabella streets, said she usually tries to steer clear of the Theatre District area at night.

O'Connor said she exercises caution by carrying a four-inch switchblade knife with her as protection.

"As an acting major, I have rehearsals that can sometimes go until midnight," O'Connor said. "I don't think people expect a 5'4" girl to have a knife."

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