A Cambridge city worker was shot and killed steps from his own neighborhood on the Fourth of July — and the question of whether faster detection technology might have saved him has pushed the City Council into a special meeting on violence prevention set for July 24.

What happened to Xavier Bautista.

Bautista, 32, a Cambridge Department of Public Works employee and father of a 5-year-old, left home around 4 a.m. on July 4 wearing his DPW work clothes. Prosecutors say multiple masked men confronted him near Norfolk and Broadway streets and opened fire. A pedestrian found him between a parked car and the curb and called 911 at 5:24 a.m. — but by then, Bautista had already been lying in the street for roughly an hour. He died from two gunshot wounds.

The case against the man charged.

Rayquon Brown, 29, of Canton, was arraigned July 13 on murder, weapons and conspiracy charges and is being held without bail. Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said Brown acted as a lookout during the shooting, "at one point holding it outstretched as if aiming it," and that he and the other men fled in a white Dodge Ram pickup truck. There's no known connection between Brown and Bautista, and the motive remains under investigation. The other men involved haven't been identified.

Cambridge deactivated its ShotSpotter gunshot detection system in May over privacy concerns — and city officials have confirmed the system had covered the exact area where Bautista was found. At a packed community meeting July 8, Cambridge Police Commissioner Pauline Wells acknowledged the technology might have made a difference. "We can never be sure, but I think we would have been in a better position," she said. Two Cambridge police unions have since called for the system's reinstatement, arguing faster detection could have changed how quickly help arrived.

The July 24 special meeting will review a broader set of recommendations beyond just the detection technology, including new violence prevention staff and expanded collaboration between police and community organizations. Kwame Dance, assistant director for violence prevention in Cambridge's Department of Community Safety, is involved in shaping the city's response.

Cambridge police have increased patrols in the area since the shooting. No next court date has been announced for Brown, and the full circumstances of the attack remain under investigation.