LOCAL INCIDENTS OF OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING DEATHS
This list is a compilation of cases from Boston and beyond. Including: Cambridge, Framingham, Lynn and the Cape. Each incident is the responsibility of that Police Department, but is indicative of a Statewide and Nationwide epidemic of People of Color being killed by Police.
BPD Killed 5 people in 1988 alone. 4 out of 5 were Black
BPD Killed 6 Between 1995 and Nov. 2000
BPD Killed 8 Between Nov. 2000 and Sep 2002
BPD Killed 2 Between June 2004 and July 2004
BPD Killed 8 from 2005 to present
BPD Killed 3 from 2013 to present
Since 1988 29 people have been killed by the BPD
All Victims were Black, Latino and Cape Verdean
BPD now has a regulation that expressly forbids firing at a vehicle, unless the occupant first displays a weapon. Former commissioner Paul Evans put that rule on the books in 2002, to mollify a public aghast at eight fatal civilian shootings by Boston police officers in a 23-month stretch, culminating in Eveline Barros Cepeda (a 20 yr. old Mother) being shot unarmed in the back of a car. The BPD has a pattern of determining that these shootings are “justifiable” and The Boston Globe stated that the shooting of Willie Murray, jr. 2/12/02 is the first time since 1991 that a Boston Police officer faced criminal charges in a fatal shooting, the city later paid $75,000 settlement (6/29/07).
Usaamah Abdullah Rahim – 26 yrs. old
Shot & Killed by BPD & FBI 6/2/2015
Usaamah Rahim was under surveillance by the Joint Terrorism Task Force and was approahed by FBI & BPD while on his way to work. Officers say Rahim lunged at them with a military style knife and they were forced to shoot him. Subsequently, Suffolk DA releases video footage of the encounter which is grainy and blurry at best.
Family and advocates have questions as to his reported 2 yr. surveillance, was the intial stop even justified, as well as the necessity to kill him.
Angelo West – 41 yrs. old
Shot & Killed by BPD 3/27/2015
Angelo “G-Low” West was stopped in a vehicle after being surveilled and followed by the Gang Squad of the BPD. Angelo West exited the vehicle and shot BPD Officer Moynihan in the cheek. West ran a short distance where he was shot dead by the other officerrs. Legal experts have noted that the initial vehicle stop may not have been warranted.
Remis M. Andrews – 38 yrs. old
Shot & Killed by BPD 4/5/2014
Remis M. Andrews, 38, of Boston was shot and killed after allegedly lunging at officers with knives while they were attempting to arrest him.
The shooting took place after police received a 911 call from a woman who said she was being assaulted by her boyfriend at 77 Lenox St. in the South End.
20-year-old Darryl Dookhran was killed Saturday December 7th, 2013 in the afternoon after two plainclothes BPD officers stopped him and 26-year-old Dorchester resident Christopher Murrain near Geneva Avenue and Westville Street, Police said.
According to police, Murrain shoved one of the officers and the pair took off running. Dookhran allegedly turned and fired on the officers with a semiautomatic handgun, hitting one in the arm. The officers returned fire, killing Dookhran.
WHAT: Denis Reynoso was home watching his 5-year-old son at approximately 11:00a when the police pounded on the door and demanded entry. Denis refused them entry, and they then forced their way into Denis’ home. A struggle apparently ensued, and Denis ended up with two bullets in his torso and his son was covered in his daddy’s blood. Denis died shortly later at Lynn Memorial Hospital
WHAT: A 911 call was placed to Lynn PD at approximately 10:50a complaining about a man ranting and raving in the street in front of King’s Lynne Apartments. Upon arrival officer’s claim that Denis’ name was given to them by the apartment manager and a “us postal worker”. The police indicated that they busted through the door, because they were concerned with the child’s welfare.
WHAT: In a later police report, police claim they had no knowledge that the child was in the apartment, hoping to further bolster a claim of self-defense.
WHAT: Officers claim that Denis “lunged for” an officer’s holstered weapon. In ensuing struggle, officer managed to hold the barrel of a semiautomatic pistol while it discharged two rounds into the ceiling of the apartment. While this was happening, another officer came around the corner and ended Denis’ life.
WHAT: The notion that a trained Explosive Ordinance Disposal officer would lunge for a holstered weapon is ridiculous and strains credibility.
WHAT: Police had no warrant to enter the house. If the police didn’t know that the child was in the apartment when Denis was shot, why did they break into his apartment in the first place?
WHAT: Essex County DA spent 3+ months dragging his feet before clearing the police of any wrongdoing.
WHAT: Lynn Police have taken home the message that they need better holsters. Yup. That’s the result of this tragedy… everyone goes back to work, and holsters “will be looked at”.
38-year old Ross Baptista of Dorchester was shot and killed by the Boston Police after they responded twice to reports of a shooting outside a house party on June 2, 2013.
Boston Police shot and killed Mark McMullen after a chase beginning in Roxbury on Blue Hill Ave. continuing through Boston and onto I-93 which ended at Exit 14 off Route 3 South in Rockland. More Coverage of Joseph McMullen shooting and death
Eurie Stamps, Sr. – 68 yrs. old
Shot & Killed by Framingham PD 1/11/2011
January 11, 2011
Retired 68-year-old bus MBTA mechanic was shot by a Framingham police officer during a drug raid at his home. According to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office it was an accident. The actions of Officer Paul Duncan ‘‘do not rise to the level of criminal conduct,’’ and ‘‘do not support a criminal charge,’’ the DA said. More coverage of Eurie Stamps, Sr. shooting and death
Manuel “Junior” DaVeiga – 19 yrs. old
Shot & Killed by BPD April 3, 2010
April 3, 2010
19 yrs. old Shot by BPD in Dorchester, investigation ongoing, Suffolk DA and BPD say he shot himself in the head which was the fatal and final shot. More information coming soon.
RIP Manuel July 3, 1990 – April 3, 2010
*Questions are now arising as to Mental Health Issues
More coverage of Manuel “Junior” DaVeiga shooting and death
Joseph M. Ramos, jr.
Shot & Killed by Dartmouth PD 8/11/2009
August 11, 2009 (Dartmouth, MA)
Born May, 5, 1967, Joseph M. Ramos, jr. was killed by Dartmouth Police on Aug. 11, 2009. He was shot by Officer Jared White after becoming disoriented and wandering through his neighborhood asking for help. Joseph suffered from a dehabilitating disease which make the police version of events impossible. Joseph’s Civil Rights were violated and he was wrongfully killed by the Police. If Joseph was not a Man of Color, he would be alive today. More coverage of Joseph M. Ramos Murder
Marquis Barker – 38 yrs. old
Shot & Killed by BPD 11/21/2007
Nov. 21st, 2007
38 yr old Father of Five, Suffolk County Jail Officer – Nashua 18 yrs. Killed Wed. Nov. 21st, 2007 by Boston Police at Walgreen’s on Corner of Norfolk & Morton St.
28 yrs Old. Killed Oct. 3 2005 in the Theatre District.
Luis Gonzalez – 57 yrs. old
July 2, 2004
Gonzalez, 57, who weighed no more than 110 pounds, was fatally shot inside the Tremont Street apartment he shared with his mentally retarded sister by two cops as he approached them with a knife. Neighbors said they told police the Puerto Rican native was mentally ill before they entered his apartment.
40 yrs. old killed in Roxbury: Brookford/Blue Hill Ave
The June 27 shooting angered the community because Bowen, 40, was shot three times (once in the back of the head) while fleeing after a traffic stop, and because some witnesses said he was unarmed. After an “investigation” the government determined this murder was “justifiable” Officers James Sheehan (3 Shots), Brian Smigielski (4 shots) More Coverage of Bert Bowen’s Murder
Eveline Barros-Cepeda
September 25, 2002
Eveline Barros-Cepeda was shot to death by a Boston Police Officer. She was riding in the back seat of a car that police tried to stop after it ran a stoplight. The car allegedly struck Boston Police Officer Michael Paillat prompting his partner Officer Thomas Taylor Jr. to fire five shots into the car as it sped away.
Daniel Furtado – 59 yrs. old
July 15, 2002
On July 15, 2002 Cambridge Police broke down the door of Daniel Furtado, and shot him dead in his home. He was accused of cutting a cable TV wire, a misdemeanor. Police had no warrant, nor a court order to enter his home.
37 yrs old killed in Roxbury, Crawford St. February 12th, 2002 by BPD officer Shawn West (Black Cop)
According to the Boston Globe, “For the first time in more than a decade, a Boston police officer could face criminal charges after using deadly force in a fatal shooting. Police and Suffolk County prosecutors said yesterday they will convene a grand jury to investigate the death of Willie L. Murray Jr.”
A man sitting in the front seat beside Willie Murray Jr. when he was shot described the terrifying moment. He said he watched as West shoved the barrel of his gun in the crack of Murray’s opened window, ordered him to open the door. Murray was shot after his foot slipped off the brake and the car rolled forward.
The grand jury probe was a rare move that may put the case into the hands of a civilian jury. The Boston Globe stated that this is the first time since 1991 that a Boston Police officer will face criminal charges in a fatal shooting.
UPDATE: 6/29/07 Five years after Willie L. Murray Jr. was shot to death by a Boston police officer (Black Cop Shawn West) after a traffic stop in Roxbury, the city agreed yesterday to pay $75,000 to settle a wrongful death suit that was about to go to trial in federal court.
Rene Romain – 19 yrs. old
July 15, 2001
19 yrs old killed in Mattapan July 15, 2001
A Boston Globe article reported that a the mother of a Mattapan teenager, after seeing the medical report on her son, claims he was shot in the back last summer without justification by Boston police.
Carline Seide-Murphy said the Boston Police first reported that her son suffered a fatal wound to the abdomen. The medical report said her 19-year-old son, Rene Romain, was shot in the back July 15 at the Mattapan Square T station.
The police said Romain had threatened two officers with a knife
Jose Pineda – 31 yrs. old
May 29, 2001
Salvadoran Immigrant shot and killed by Police in East Boston
Shot in the back of the neck by officer Kyle Wilcox on Dec. 27 in a Roxbury park. Boston Municipal Police officer fired at 29-year-old Ricky Bodden of Dorchester. The shooting occurred after Bodden allegedly ran when the officer tried to question him outside a Dorchester park. The force patrols city-owned buildings.
Carlos M. Garcia – 27 yrs. old
November 27, 2000
Puerto Rican man shot in Dorchester after car chase.
Acting on a wrong address from a bad tip by an informant, the police conducted a no-knock raid on Retired Methodist minister AccelyneWilliams’ Boston, MA apartment. The door was battered down and Williams was chased around his home by a SWAT police team looking for drugs and guns. Williams was tackled to the floor and his hands tied behind his back. Williams collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of 75.
No guns or drugs were found, as it was soon discovered they raided the wrong apartment!
Christopher Rogers, 16 yrs. old
shot and killed by Boston Police officer James Hall in Dorchester in July 1991.
Donald Johnson, 18 yrs. old
January 31, 1988
Killed in Jamaica Plain
Donald Johnson (shooting victim) was shot dead by police while he was driving a stolen bus. Boston Police shot and killed five suspects of non-violent crimes in 1988; Four of those five suspects were African American.
Shot and killed by Boston Police officers in Back Bay in September 1983.
Levi Hart – 14 yrs. old
July, 198o
14 yrs old killed in Roxbury 1981 by BPD Officer Richard Borque
Levi Hart, a 14-year-old African American youth from Roxbury, Mass., was killed in a police chase. (Hart, and two other Roxbury youths had stolen and car. When the officers caught up to them, Hart was shot, arguably by Richard Bourque in an act of police brutality.)
In January 1975 two white undercover Boston police officers gunned down an innocent black man at the Mission Hill housing project, and then were accused along with other Boston police in a bungled scheme to cover it up. While on stakeout on a suspected getaway car used in an armed robbery, the two gunned down a black man who entered the car. The two claimed the man had a gun and they shot in self-defense. Police investigation decided it was a rightful shooting. The man’s widow knew her husband would not be carrying a weapon and became determined to prove her husband’s innocence. Attorney Lawrence O’Donnell of Boston, a former officer himself, conducted a three-year investigation on behalf of the widow, Patricia Bowden, which prompted two federal juries to agree in a historic verdict that the death of James Bowden “was malicious, willful, wanton or reckless,” and the result was a landmark legal decision which included a settlement of $843,000 for Bowden’s widow and two children. In more than 100 years, no one had won such a judgment against any police department.
Former Boston Phoenix reporter Dave O’Brian was on assignment to write a feature story about Boston’s Tactical Patrol Force, O’Brian was in the back seat of the police cruiser along with a news photographer. When the shooting occurred, he was crouched on the floor in fear. His role became crucial, though, because his notes about what happened in the aftermath contradicted police.
Looking for a tall, thin man, the police stake out the wrong car, then shoot a man who’s 5 feet 4 and weighs 180 pounds and who’s never been accused of a crime. Their versions in court contradict those of eyewitnesses, and also one another. A gun is planted at the scene to incriminate Bowden, but it’s the wrong type. Crucial tape recordings from the dispatcher’s office are missing. The police arrest O’Donnell’s son on a trumped-up charge, and beat him.
Usaamah Abdullah Rahim – 26 yrs. old
Williams was tackled to the floor and his hands tied behind his back. Williams collapsed and died of a heart attack at the age of 75.
