WINTHROP, MASS. (WHDH) - A retired state trooper and an AIr Force Staff Sergeant who were fatally shot in Winthrop on Saturday are being remembered for their public service and dedicating their lives to helping others.
Nathan Allen, 28, fatally shot retired state trooper David L. Green, 58, and Air Force Staff Sgt. Ramona Cooper, 60, after stealing a box truck and crashing it into a building Saturday afternoon, officials said. The killings are being investigated as a hate crime.
“He was just the type of person who would give up himself give up his heart to anyone that needed anything,” said Aria Green, David Green’s brother.
Allen allegedly drove twice the speed limit to an area that contained several Jewish temples prior to the crash. He then passed by several people before shooting Cooper and Green, and was then shot and killed by a Winthrop police sergeant.
“He walked by several other people that were not Black and they are alive, they were not harmed,” Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said. “They are alive and these two people of color are not.”
Green was a military veteran and a retired state trooper who served 36 years in law enforcement and was a beloved member of the community, friends said.
“There was no better human being than Dave Green … He was a generous, kind, intelligent, and caring man,” lifelong friend Nick Tsiotos said. “This is a tremendous loss for the town of Winthrop and for everybody who loves people who are great people.”
Aria Green said he was glad to hear from others about what he brother meant to them.
“It’s been therapeutic for me and my wife to hear the stories about my brother,” Aria Green said. “I always knew my brother was a great man, but the extent and the number of people that he touch is amazing.”
Cooper served in the Air Force and then worked at the VA Boston Jamaica Plain Campus. In a statement, a VA spokesperson said, “She was a beloved colleague who will be greatly missed.”
“The Green and Cooper families lost loved ones to a despicable act and we lost two cherished public servants who proved their mettle time and time again. Awful, dreadful story,” Gov. Charlie Baker said in a tweet. “Rest in peace Trooper Green and USAF Veteran Cooper.”
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