I would also like to express my concern about the recent stabbing at the high school. I am a life-long resident of Framingham and a graduate of our schools, and I have children attending Framingham High School. I am proud to say that Framingham is my home.

I live on a street in Framingham that has multiple SMOC properties. In the past two weeks four violent criminals involved in several high-profile crimes have been arrested on my street, including the brothers involved in the stabbing at school. Their identity is well known among the students and staff of Framingham High School. All four people arrested were living in homes owned by SMOC at the time of their arrests.

The stabbing is the second high-profile crime to be linked to a SMOC-owned property in a two-week period and my neighbors and I are very scared. We were still reeling from the frightening events of Saturday, November 8th, when the stabbing occurred on November 20ta and shook us up all over again.

On Saturday, November 8th, a house on the street was surrounded by multiple police officers for a couple of hours and then Paul Ellslager, a tenant in one of the homes, was arrested (along with his girlfriend) on warrant charges stemming from an armed home invasion in New Hampshire. Ellslager was a fugitive, wanted after he and others allegedly stormed into an Enfield, NH home wearing masks and stole a quarter pound of marijuana and some electronics from an 18-year-old drug dealer on Nov. 5.

The Framingham police stumbled upon him. We were lucky. They found his name on the mailbox when they responded to a separate, unrelated call at the house, otherwise Ellslager would still be living on my street.

What's worse, Ellslager had a lengthy criminal history BEFORE he moved into the house on my street and a simple background check (or even a Google search) would have revealed that Ellslager's past includes:

  1. In November 2007, in Westboro, MA, Ellslager was alleged to have led a brutal attack on four Westboro men. Police have charged him and his brother with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon (a bat, a rock, and a shod foot) and one count of mayhem; and
  2. In February 2006, in Fort Myers, FL a gunman shot at Ellslager and his girlfriend, Katie Knudson, 24, as they drove in traffic. Knudson was struck in the head and killed, while Ellslager was wounded. The sheriff's investigators have stated that they may never solve the case because Ellslager has refused to aid the authorities.

After Ellslager was arrested on November 8th my neighbor, an older woman who lived on my street for years, decided to move out immediately due to safety concerns. She said that if the properties are being rented to violent criminals then she cannot stay there, living among them. She is petrified. Most of us are.

We were still reeling from the arrest of the fugitive when, only 12 days later, the stabbing took place, allegedly committed by a neighborhood boy who bragged about being a member of the Bloods.

I am sure the parents of the child who was stabbed didn't pay much thought as to the kids that went to school with their son before this, but now, sadly, their life is changed forever. This is similar to the other "client" on Winter Street that broke into a home with young girls home alone.

That family, too. is scarred for life. Life as they knew it is gone. The victims of all of these criminals will never be the same.

As a resident who cannot flee my neighborhood at this time in my life, I have questions:

  1. Do we, as parents, have a right to know when someone with a violent criminal past is placed in our neighborhood and into our schools?
  2. Will there be retaliation in my neighborhood for the stabbing or other crimes?
  3. Do housing guidelines exist to disqualify known violent criminals from living in subsidized housing?
  4. Do the social service agencies in our town have to follow any guidelines?
  5. Does anyone care about the safety and well-being of the residents who work hard and live in the neighborhoods?
The children of our town are the innocent ones here, and as parents it is our job to protect our children. And if we can't protect them who will? All we are asking for is a little help here.

Signed,

Scared Resident

Send comments to: hjw2001@gmail.com