BOSTON (WHDH) - A sense of relief hung outside the Boston Medical Center Emergency Department Tuesday night, where dozens of police officers gathered to support three of their colleagues who were shot.
Officers responding to a report of an armed individual barricaded in a triple-decker home on Ferndale Street in Dorchester around 9:30 a.m. immediately set up a perimeter and called in SWAT teams, as well as crisis negotiators, according to the Boston Police Department.
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Negotiators spent about six hours trying to talk the individual into a peaceful surrender before the police say the suspect began firing at the officers.
Around 3:30 p.m., the hospital staff was put on alert and the roads surrounding the area were closed as the injured officers were rushed to BMC in police-escorted ambulances.
Doctors and nurses immediately began treating the officers, whose names have not been released, as the Boston Police Patrolman’s Association reached out to the public on Twitter asking for prayers.
While they are all expected to be OK, two of the officers suffered serious injuries.
The third was able to continue their recovery at home and was released from the hospital shortly before 10 p.m.
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins and acting Police Commissioner Gregory Long also came to offer their support.
“It’s emotional for them and their family, it is emotional for the department,” Long said. “When you have officers shot like that, the department takes a hit. This is a strong department.”
In a statement, Mayor Kim Janey wrote: “I want to thank the officers of the BPD for their service and professionalism today. My sympathies are with those who were shot and injured, along with their families.”
Mayor-elect Michelle Wu added, “I have been briefed about the tragic incident unfolding in Dorchester and will be monitoring the situation closely. My prayers are with the injured officers and their loved ones.”
With more than three decades of training under his belt, David O’Laughlin from the Municipal Police Institute said the physical wounds will heal for these three officers but the psychological ones will take more time.
“We say they’re in the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries that don’t even take into consideration the psychological injuries that are present here,” he explained.
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