Woman, 2 children die after found on sidewalk near Boston parking garage

BOSTON — A woman and two young children have died after being found unconscious on a sidewalk near a Boston parking garage on Christmas Day.

“Today is a tragedy,” said Boston Police Commissioner William Gross, during an afternoon news conference.

The identities of the victims, as well as the woman’s relationship to the children, who Gross said appeared to be under age 5, has not yet been determined. News video showed police looking at an SUV, with several doors wide open, parked on the top level of the parking garage, which is adjacent to the Ruggles MBTA rail station.

Gross said there were two child car seats in the vehicle.

“At this point, this is a death investigation,” he said, without speculating on what happened. Gross asked anyone with information about the incident to contact police.

He said the victims were taken to an area hospital where they were pronounced dead. He said the medical examiner’s office will determine the ultimate cause of death.

The investigation will be headed by the district attorney, with assistance from Boston Police, Boston Transit Police, and Northeastern University Police. The deaths occurred outside a garage that is owned by the school. The Boston Globe reports it’s the same garage where a Boston College student leapt to his death earlier this year.

“As a mother, it was incredibly hard, this scene in particular, where there were two young children that lost their lives today,” said District Attorney Rachael Rollins. “We’re going to do everything that we can to get the answers.”