Welcome, investigators - it is March of 1770. Today's case is a particularly difficult one because it involves the British military and the British colonists of Boston, Massachusetts. We don't have much information yet, but we do know that five Boston citizens are dead from gunshot wounds. The bullets were allegedly fired by British soldiers. The residents of Boston are already calling this a massacre.
I don't need to explain to you how tense the situation already is between the citizens of Boston and the military. This situation could easily get out of hand. It is up to your team to discover the truth.

Your team of crime scene investigators is assigned the delicate task of sifting through the evidence to recreate the incident and decide whether the British military murdered the citizens of Boston or if they fired in self-defense.
Remember to conduct your investigation without bias. Trust the evidence, but be warned - the witness accounts might not always agree with each other. Your group will need to discuss your individual findings to try to piece together what really occurred.

Facts of the Case

Here are the facts that we know so far:

1.  The incident occurred on the evening of March 5, 1770.

2.  4,000 troops are currently stationed here in Boston. The troops are here to enforce the Townshend acts of 1767.

3.  We know that two Boston teenagers were involved in the early stages of the conflict. Descriptions of the teenagers are found below:

Edward Garrick
A wigmaker's apprentice. Edward Garrick arrived at the Customs House and accused Captain Lieutenant John Goldfinch of not paying a bill owed to the master wigmaker. Garrick was hit on the side of his head by Private Hugh White. Private White used the butt of his rifle to hit Garrick. / Bartholomew Broaders
A friend of Edward Garrick. Broaders exchanged insults with Private White after White hit Garrick with his rifle. This exchange of insults attracted a large crowd of people that eventually grew to 400 people.

4.  Shots were fired by the British troops.

Soldier Facts

o  Private Hugh White - The soldier outside on guard duty when the incident began. He struck Edward Garrick, a Boston teenager, and traded insults with Bartholomew Broaders, another Boston teenager.

o  Captain Lieutenant John Goldfinch - A British officer who was also on duty the evening of March 5, 1770. He was accused by Edward Garrick, a wigmaker's apprentice, of not paying his master's bill.

o  Captain Thomas Preston - The commanding officer of the British 14th regiment. He was in command of the British soldiers who were outside the Customs House. He initially sent Corporal Wemms to help Private White, but he also went to help soon after.

o  Corporal William Wemms - A non-commissioned officer sent by Captain Prestonto relieve Private Hugh White from guard duty. He was in command of the following soldiers:

o  Hugh Montgomery

o  John Carroll

o  James Hartigan

o  William McCauley

o  William Warren

o  Matthew Killroy

o  James Bassett - A soldier who went with Captain Preston to help the others.

5.  Five Boston citizens died during the incident. Three of the citizens died at the scene and two died later.

Description of the Victims

1.  Crispus Attucks - A mulatto sailor (mulatto is a person who is of African and Native American descent). The eyewitness reports indicate that he led the crowd closer to the British soldiers. He died at the scene.

2.  Samuel Gray - A rope-maker. He died at the scene.

3.  James Caldwell - A sailor. He died at the scene.

4.  Samuel Maverick - A citizen of Boston who was 17-years old. He was wounded at the scene and died from his wounds the next morning (March 6).

5.  Patrick Carr - A leather-worker and immigrant from Ireland. He was wounded at the scene and died from his wounds two weeks later.

6.  Here is a bird's-eye view of the location of the shooting: