BOSTON POLICE INVESTIGATE OFFICER-INVOLVEDSHOOTING ON BOSTON COMMON
At about 6:47pm on Thursday May 29, 2008, officers from Area A-1 (Downtown/Charlestown), in conjunction with members of the Boston Municipal Court and the Probation Department were conducting Operation Common Cure inside the Boston Common.
While in the vicinity of the Park Square MBTA station, a suspect named Shawn Craig was observed in the area. Craig, known to probation officers, was believed to be wanted on a Boston Municipal Court warrant. With this information, officers approached Craig to conduct a threshold inquiry. As the officers approached, Craig fled in the direction of the Park Ranger’s station. As the officers followed, Craig produced a firearm, turned and pointed the firearm in the direction of an officer.
At this time, the officer ordered Craig to drop the firearm, to which he refused, causing the officer to fire a single shot from his department firearm. As a result, Craig was struck one time and consequently dropped his weapon. The suspect was transported to Boston Medical Center and placed under arrest. Shawn Craig, 23, of Boston was arrested on an outstanding warrant for Unlawful Possession with Intent to Distribute Class B. Craig will be charged with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon and additional charges are expected to follow.
The officer involved in this incident was transported to a local hospital for a routine evaluation. The officer will be placed on administrative duty until he is cleared to return to full duty. CORRECTION: The officer is currently out injured until medically cleared to return to duty.
The facts and circumstances surrounding this incident continue to be investigated by the Boston Police Firearm Discharge Investigative Team and the District Attorney’s Office.
As a result of initial findings and investigation, it has been determined that the weapon used by the suspect was a pellet gun. The pellet gun was a replica of a semi-automatic handgun.
