Gov. Maura Healey on Monday announced a review of shelter policy amid a barrage of questions over how a Dominican national – who the feds say entered the country illegally – came to be at a Revere family shelter with 10 pounds of lethal drugs and a large-capacity rifle.
The December arrest of 28-year-old Leonardo Andujar Sanchez was announced last week by the Revere Police Department, which said its officers and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department recovered an estimated $1 million worth of fentanyl and “a loaded AR-15 with ammo” from a room at the Quality Inn in Revere.
“It’s outrageous that this individual took advantage of our shelter system to engage in criminal activity,” Healey said in a press statement on Monday. She added: “I’ve ordered an inspection of all shelter units, beginning with the Revere site, and a full review of our intake processes to determine any additional steps that we can take to prevent criminal activity in shelters.”
Healey’s statement came after members of the House Republican Caucus wrote to the governor earlier in the day about their “deep concerns and outrage” raised by last week’s headlines out of Revere. The GOP lawmakers, led by Rep. Bradley Jones Jr., sent a copy of their letter to Housing Secretary Edward Augustus, whose office oversees the emergency assistance shelter system.