SHOT BY THE POLICE: BOSTON & BEYOND

LOCAL COP SHOOTINGS

This list is a compilation of cases from Boston, Cambridge, Framingham and the Cape. Each incident is the responsibility of that Police Department, but still 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 3 from 2005 to present
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).

January 11, 2011 Eurie Stamps, Sr., 68 yrs. old 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

April 3, 2010 Manuel "Junior" DaVeiga, 19 yrs. old 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

August 11, 2009 (Dartmouth, MA) Joseph M. Ramos, jr. 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

November 21, 2007 Marquis Barker 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. *Mental Health Issues **5th Fatal Shooting since 2002 More Coverage of Marquis Barker's Murder

October 3, 2005 Stanley Seney 28 yrs Old. Killed Oct. 3 2005 in the Theatre District

July 2, 2004 Luis Gonzalez, 57 years old More Coverage of Luis Gonzalez's Murder 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. *Mentally Ill Person **Dirty Cop Keeler Involved

June 27, 2004 Bert W. Bowen 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

September 25, 2002 Eveline Barros-Cepeda 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.

July 15, 2002 Daniel Furtado 59 yrs old (Cambridge, MA) 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. * 8 Man Swat Team 3-4 rounds More Coverage of Daniel Furtado's Murder *Mentally Ill Person

July 2, 2002 LaVeta Jackson, 36 yrs old On July 2, 2002 Boston Police shot and killed LaVeta Jackson in her home. She suffered from a psychiatric illness. *3 Cops 15-20 rounds *Mentally Ill Person

May 2002 Nelson Santiago In May 2002, two officers shot and killed Nelson Santiago after he allegedly rammed a stolen car into their cruiser in Roxbury.

February 12, 2002 Willie L. Murray jr.  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.

July 15, 2001 Rene Romain  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

May 29, 2001 Jose Pineda

December 27, 2000 Ricky Bodden, 29 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.

November 27, 2000 Carlos M. Garcia

March 24, 1994 Rev. Accelyne Williams, 75 years old Acting on a wrong address from a bad tip by an informant, the police conducted a no-knock raid on Retired Methodist minister Accelyne Williams' 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!

January 31, 1988 Donald Johnson 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; he adds that four of those five suspects were African American. **5th killing in 1988 4 out of 5 dead were blacks

1981 Levi Hart 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.)

January 1975 James Bowden 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.