Lawful
An armed, licensed off-duty security guard’s shooting of a mentally ill man with a knife who was attacking his psychiatrist was not only lawful, it probably saved other lives, DA says. Boston Herald:
The fatal shooting of an enraged bipolar patient Tuesday at a psychiatrist’s office in Boston appears to be justified and may have saved other innocent lives, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.
The DA said off-duty special officer Paul M. Langone, 33, of Reading, was on the fifth floor of a medical office at 50 Staniford St. when he heard “screams” and reacted.
Langone burst into an office to see Jay Carciero, 37, also of Reading, on top of Dr. Astrid Desrosiers, 49, “stabbing her,” Conley said.
The DA said Langone ordered the man to stop and when he didn’t he fired multiple times with two shots hitting Carciero.
Both the doctor and patient were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital where Carciero was pronounced dead and Desrosiers is still recovering. She is in such “grievous” condition, Conley said, investigators have yet to speak to her.
Conley said Langone saved her life and “possibly several others.” The special officer, who patrols Boston housing properties, was legally armed and ordered the attacker to “drop his weapon.” Conley said Carciero did not obey.
“Evidence at the scene … and witness statements all indicate Mr. Langone acted lawfully,” said Conley.
Conley said Langone was on the fifth floor of the Mass. General office building. That floor, he added, has “several medical, dental, research and mental health offices.” The DA would not divulge which office Langone was visiting.
Lawyer for the dead man call the shooter’s actions “rash,” has “serious reservations” about whether it was heroic. His views, not the family’s, the lawyer says, which is a relief, if even in grief the family might recognize the extreme nature of the event, considering the facts as laid out by law enforcement in this tragic situation. Boston Herald.
Commenters at various sites have ranged from praise for the shooter to the usual somewhat clueless questions about why he didn’t shoot to wound. Maybe because, as the father of the shooter suggests in the first link, there was a seriously wounded blood-soaked woman on the floor, and a deranged man with a bloody knife coming at him, in close quarters. Media questions in today’s televised press conference about whether the off-duty guard, licensed to carry concealed, broke any rules by carrying the gun in a medical setting. No, said the DA
Lawsuit? Not sure yet, the lawyer says. His remarks on awaiting toxicology to explain the deranged man’s behavior may suggest yes, MGH can look forward to one. But it appears this could be a highly complex matter we’ll hear more about, given the slain man’s involvement in a whistleblower firing suit against his old employer.
The dead man left a wife and four kids behind. They live in Reading, the same town north of Boston the shooter and his family live in, which has it made it somewhat more sensitive for all involved.
Topics: Boston, courage, guns, medicine
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:53 pm on Thursday, October 29, 2009
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