On October 28, 2023, about 2:30 a.m., a dispute in a Worcester State University parking lot between two visiting groups ended with gunfire. Nineteen-year-old Randy Ardo Melendez Jr., a Black/African American male from Southbridge, Massachusetts, was shot and later died of his wounds. A 21-year-old man was also shot; he survived but was left paralyzed from the waist down. Neither Melendez Jr. nor the others involved were students at the university. The campus was placed under a shelter-in-place order while law enforcement secured the scene.

In the days after the shooting, authorities named 18-year-old Kevin Rodriguez of Lawrence as a suspect and sought him on an arrest warrant charging armed assault with intent to murder. By December 2023 a Worcester County Grand Jury had returned indictments: Rodriguez was indicted on murder in connection with Melendez Jr.’s death. Two other men, 19-year-old Richard Nieves of Spencer and 20-year-old Kenneth Doelter of Southbridge, were indicted on armed robbery and aggravated kidnapping for the robbery of the 21-year-old victim; Nieves faces additional counts including armed assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, plus firearms-related charges.

Anyone who was in the area that night or has information about the confrontation is asked to come forward.