Report cites lack of gun discipline when Boston bombers found

BOSTON — Some police officers involved in tracking down the Boston Marathon bombers days after the attacks showed a lack of “weapons discipline” during a firefight with the brothers and in the eventual capture of one of them, resulting in dangerous crossfire, according to a report released Friday.

The 130-page report by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, nearly two years in the making, examined all aspects of the response to the bombing that killed three people and wounded more than 260 others.

A transit police officer, Richard Donohue, was critically wounded in the initial confrontation with Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev on a Watertown street April 19, 2013. The report doesn’t say whether Donohue was shot by fellow officers.

The report also reveals that shortly after the shootout, which led to Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s death, an officer near the scene fired on an unmarked state police vehicle after it was mistakenly reported as stolen. A state trooper and a Boston police officer in the vehicle weren’t injured.

Later in the day, when Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was discovered wounded and hiding in a boat, a police officer “fired his weapon without appropriate authority,” causing many other officers to believe the bomber was firing at them and leading them to open fire on the boat, according to the report.

The report praises many other aspects of the emergency response to the April 15, 2013, bombings at the finish line of the marathon, particularly the response of medical personnel at the scene and Boston hospitals who treated gravely injured victims. While three died at the scene, every victim who was transported to a hospital survived.

“Overall, the response to the Boston Marathon bombings must be considered a great success,” the report stated.

The shootout with the suspects in Watertown followed the fatal shooting of Sean Collier, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer, and a carjacking in Cambridge.

“Although initial responding officers practiced appropriate weapons discipline while they were engaged in the firefight with the suspects, additional officers arriving on scene near the conclusion of the firefight fired weapons toward the vicinity of the suspects, without necessarily having identified and lined up their target,” or appropriately aiming their guns, the report said.

“Officers lining both sides of the street also fired upon the second suspect as he fled the scene in a vehicle,” the report went on to state. A timeline of events listed in the report noted that the transit officer was shot as the surviving suspect fled.

The report doesn’t name any of the officers from several agencies and jurisdictions that were involved in the Watertown incidents.

There was also a lack of coordination and management of the more than 2,500 law enforcement officers who converged on a staging area at a shopping mall in Watertown during the day, many of whom “self-deployed,” according to the report.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is on trial on federal charges, some of which could carry the death penalty, related to the bombing and its aftermath. His lawyer admitted in opening statements that he had participated in the bombings but argued that his late brother was the mastermind. Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday.

Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan has said she plans to release the findings of her office’s investigation into the Watertown firefight within the next couple months.

A Harvard University report released last year on the marathon bombing response, while largely positive, also said the gunfight lacked coordination and restraint, putting police and the public in danger.

The MEMA report had strong praise for the unified command structure that developed after the marathon attack, saying law enforcement agencies and political leaders worked cooperatively and successfully to make key decisions in the days that followed.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said he was proud of the report’s findings on the efforts of city workers after the bombing.

“I know that over the past two years city departments have worked together diligently to take the lessons learned from the bombings and drastically improve our emergency response protocols so we are even better prepared for the future, and we can set the example for other cities,” Walsh said.

Massachusetts State Police issued a statement saying the report is a valuable study of the challenges that law enforcement agencies faced.

State police said many of the report’s recommendations already have been adopted, including greater coordination between law enforcement agencies in security planning. Many of the improvements were implemented for the 2014 marathon and other events, police said.

Online:

MEMA report: http://1.usa.gov/1IaTMVJ

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.