Rockrivr1
NES Member
Well, it would seem that a certain state police officer needs some target practice.
Cop’s wound in gunfight came from friendly fire
By Michele McPhee
Boston Herald Police Bureau Chief
Thursday, August 30, 2007 - Updated: 07:21 AM EST
A Boston police officer shot during a blazing gun battle with a reputed Dorchester gang member was hit by friendly fire and not by a bullet squeezed off by the suspect, a ballistic report showed.
Gang cop Stephen Romano, 38, was wounded by a bullet that passed under his Kevlar vest on May 23 after a confrontation with 21-year-old reputed Geneva Avenue gangbanger Antonio Franklin.
Franklin allegedly fired two shots from a .357 Magnum as he frantically tried to pedal away from cops assigned to the Youth Violence Strike Force. Cops returned fire, hitting Franklin in the shoulder.
Ballistic evidence shows it was a .40-caliber bullet that hit the Boston cop, and it was apparently the same bullet fired at the reputed gang member by State Trooper James Grasso.
But Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley said, “That we now know Antonio Franklin’s shots missed Officer Romano does not change his culpability in the eyes of the law.
“The overwhelming evidence suggests that he chose to point a loaded handgun at a police officer and pull the trigger. It is he, and he alone, who is responsible Officer Romano’s injuries.”
Franklin is slated to be arraigned today on a six-count indictment charging him, among other offenses, with assault and illegal possession of a weapon.
Grasso could not be reached for comment last night, but state police Col. Mark Delaney said the incident shows the “split-second decisions” officers must make in dangerous situations.
Boston police Commissioner Edward Davis said Grasso acted appropriately. “The bullet followed a very strange trajectory,” he said. “It apparently hit the suspect, traveled through him and out into the officer.
“This was a close combat situation,” Davis said. “In a situation like this, the use of firearm is appropriate. Even the best case scenario - you can’t predict what a bullet will do after it strikes a body. This is one of the dangers that officers face when they are engaged in a life or death struggle. The threat is not just from the suspect, there is a potential for friendly fire.”
Romano, an 11-year BPD veteran, remains out on sick leave.
According to Conley’s office, the incident occurred when officers on patrol were keeping an eye on tensions from an ongoing feud between the rival Crown Path and Geneva/Castlegate gangs.
Cop’s wound in gunfight came from friendly fire
By Michele McPhee
Boston Herald Police Bureau Chief
Thursday, August 30, 2007 - Updated: 07:21 AM EST
A Boston police officer shot during a blazing gun battle with a reputed Dorchester gang member was hit by friendly fire and not by a bullet squeezed off by the suspect, a ballistic report showed.
Gang cop Stephen Romano, 38, was wounded by a bullet that passed under his Kevlar vest on May 23 after a confrontation with 21-year-old reputed Geneva Avenue gangbanger Antonio Franklin.
Franklin allegedly fired two shots from a .357 Magnum as he frantically tried to pedal away from cops assigned to the Youth Violence Strike Force. Cops returned fire, hitting Franklin in the shoulder.
Ballistic evidence shows it was a .40-caliber bullet that hit the Boston cop, and it was apparently the same bullet fired at the reputed gang member by State Trooper James Grasso.
But Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley said, “That we now know Antonio Franklin’s shots missed Officer Romano does not change his culpability in the eyes of the law.
“The overwhelming evidence suggests that he chose to point a loaded handgun at a police officer and pull the trigger. It is he, and he alone, who is responsible Officer Romano’s injuries.”
Franklin is slated to be arraigned today on a six-count indictment charging him, among other offenses, with assault and illegal possession of a weapon.
Grasso could not be reached for comment last night, but state police Col. Mark Delaney said the incident shows the “split-second decisions” officers must make in dangerous situations.
Boston police Commissioner Edward Davis said Grasso acted appropriately. “The bullet followed a very strange trajectory,” he said. “It apparently hit the suspect, traveled through him and out into the officer.
“This was a close combat situation,” Davis said. “In a situation like this, the use of firearm is appropriate. Even the best case scenario - you can’t predict what a bullet will do after it strikes a body. This is one of the dangers that officers face when they are engaged in a life or death struggle. The threat is not just from the suspect, there is a potential for friendly fire.”
Romano, an 11-year BPD veteran, remains out on sick leave.
According to Conley’s office, the incident occurred when officers on patrol were keeping an eye on tensions from an ongoing feud between the rival Crown Path and Geneva/Castlegate gangs.