Mary Gonsalves of Marshfield said she visited her granddaughter at South Shore Hospital yesterday before she died.
“She was getting ready to go to work upstairs in her room when she heard all this commotion and went downstairs and was confronted … by I don’t know who,’’ Mary Gonsalves said.
She said Tina Gonsalves, who was not married, lived with her four children and worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield. She said she did not know the ages of the children, but one was still in school. Three of the children were present when the shooting occurred, she said.
“She was a hard worker … and she did not deserve this,’’ Mary Gonsalves said.
Cruz and Rockland Police Chief John Llewellyn said they believe the shooter was going for an intended victim, given the frequency of police calls to the house, but it was unclear whether Gonsalves or the man were targeted.
“We have had some problems at this apartment before, and that’s why, as the DA said, we think this was targeted,’’ Llewellyn told reporters yesterday at the scene.
Last July, two brothers living at the address were arrested on armed robbery charges related to a drug deal, The Patriot Ledger reported at the time, and police records show multiple calls to the house, including a report of a possible breaking and entering at Gonsalves’s apartment in February.
Police are searching for a gray 2011 Dodge Ram pickup truck with Massachusetts plates, which they believe was involved in the case, the district attorney’s office said.
The neighborhood around Concord Street on Rockland’s south side is home to retirees and families, some of whom have lived in this community all their lives.
“All these years we’ve had very, very little trouble, and all of a sudden, bingo,’’ said Dean Sargent, 74, a local historian who has lived on Concord Street for about 50 years. “We have such a beautiful neighborhood. It’s frustrating to have a couple of bad apples move in.’’
Residents with deep roots in the neighborhood complained of drug activity and frequent police visits to the house.
“That house has been nothing but trouble since they built it,’’ said Bill Hocking, 68, a retired state employee who has lived across the street for 40 years.
Hocking and other neighbors said a building that once stood there burned down about 10 years ago and was replaced by a large structure with several rental units. With the apartments, this street of family homesteads has had a higher turnover of residents, which has changed the neighborhood’s character, they said.
One woman in a nearby apartment building, who would not give her name, said she has not allowed her children outside since she learned of the shooting. She said she plans to move.
As Sargent peered across Concord Street at the crime scene and the detectives, he bent down to pick up some trash off the sidewalk.
“We’d do anything to keep our neighborhood,’’ he said.
Ben Wolford can be reached at bwolford@globe.com.
