Grandpa killed in drug raid
Officials investigate shooting by SWAT
By O’Ryan Johnson | Thursday, January 6, 2011 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Devon Talbert, above left, and Joseph Bushfan, both 20, are arraigned on drug charges yesterday in Framingham District Court.
Photo by Patrick Whittemore
The 68-year-old grandfather of 12 who was killed yesterday by a Framingham police SWAT team in an early-morning drug raid was a retired MBTA worker described by shocked neighbors as the “nicest guy in the world.”
Eurie Stamps was not the target of the search warrant, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, and his death at the hands of police is under investigation.
Authorities said Stamps lived at the house with a woman whose son and another man were arrested in the raid on drug charges.
A report by police gave few details of the shooting, stat- ing only: “During the exec ution of the search warrant a firearm was discharged by a SWAT team member and a round struck a resident.”
Police wouldn’t say whether the shooting was justified. No weapons were recovered from the home, prosecutors said, and the suspects do not face weapons charges.
After Stamps was shot, police called an ambulance and gave him first aid, authorities said.
Joseph Bush fan, 20, the son of Stamps’ com panion, Norma Bushfan, was arrested outside the house as police initiated the raid. Bushfan allegedly was carrying eight baggies of crack and $400 in cash. Devon Talbert, 20, was arrested in a rear bedroom.
In court, prosecutors said Bushfan has open cases for armed robbery, assault with a dangerous weapon and larceny, but no convictions.
Both men pleaded not guilty to charges including possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute and conspiracy to violate drug laws.
Talbert was released on personal recognizance. Bushfan was held on $5,000 bail.
Police reported they had the apartment under surveillance and used an informant to conduct undercover drug buys. Because of the prior violent charges against Bushfan, they brought in the SWAT team.
Joey Fischer, who lives in the three-story house, woke to a loud bang.
“It sounded like a grenade went off,” he said.
“And then just 45 seconds of screaming and total chaos.”
He called Stamps “the nicest guy in the world.”
“He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” agreed Julia Fellows, Fischer’s girlfriend.
Family members also struggled to understand how someone they saw as peaceful and law-abiding could meet a violent end.
“He loved his family,” said son-in-law Vernon Jones of Framingham. “I don’t want him to be pictured as some drug kingpin. That’s not him. . . . He loved his kids. He was a stand-up guy.
“He was just enjoying retirement,” Jones said.
MBTA spokesman Joseph Pesaturo said Stamps retired in 2006 after 20 years as a machinist.
Stamps’ friend, Cambridge Police officer William Phillips, was stunned at the news.
“The guy that I knew,” he said, “was a very nice guy.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1307685
