Winchester Policemen Respond to Boston Marathon, Watertown Scenes

Winchester Police Lt. Carl Fuller and Patrolman Steven Fields assisted with security at the Boston Marathon bombing scene, as well as the manhunt for the bombing suspects in Watertown last week.

Police Chief Kenneth Albertelli said the department's commitment to NEMLEC is in a variety of ways, and they have a SWAT officer and a RRT officer assigned to the unit. Fifty-four Massachusetts communities comprise NEMLEC and commit resources to the team, including SWAT, RRT and motorcycle units, according to Albertelli.

Helping Boston

When it came to the Boston Marathon response, there was a request from NEMLEC through the Boston Police Department for two computer forensic units.

"They were looking for certified computer technicians because they had confiscated so much electronic equipment, such as cell phones, laptops, iPads, to view pictures, CDs, videos or whatever they had with certified technicians and there are not that many certified forensic technicians in the area," said the chief, "but we have one so we sent Lt. Det. Dan O'Connell. He works with NEMLEC computer labs for forensic-types of searches."

Fuller, a member of North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC), recalled being called to the Boston Marathon around 5 p.m., just a couple hours after the bombings near the finish line. The bombings claimed the lives of three people and injured hundreds.

"We got briefed and assigned to various different areas with a bunch of different SWAT teams. Our SWAT team when we initially got there was assigned to the Brigham and Women's Hospital because there was a person of interest there," Fuller said. "Shortly thereafter, it turned out that that person was not involved (with the bombings)."

Fuller, of Woburn, said that he also provided security in Government Center.

"We were running 12-hour shifts that week and we had different locations (to monitor)," Fuller said, adding that different teams from Metro, SEMLEC and Middlesex County that were involved in the security operations. "We all assisted Boston (Police Department). Basically we were there for post-bombing security measures and to help make the people there feel a little bit better about the whole situation and that they had better protection."

Recalling Watertown

Fuller said he got the call to respond to the Watertown manhunt for the bombing suspects in the early morning hours last Friday. 

"Each SWAT team was assigned a grid in the neighborhoods where the shootings were and we went house-to-house, searching from the attic to the basements," Fuller said, estimating that his team of about 35 members searched 75 to 100 homes. 

"We had got done with that grid and gone back to the staging area to eat because we had not eaten in a while," Fuller said with a chuckle. "Just as we finished eating, the call came in that a resident had called in about somebody being in their boat. When that happened, a lot of teams went down and there were some people that were closer than we were and they responded immediately between officers and SWAT teams in a small area.

"At the time we were inserting there was an exchange of gunfire and there was a team of us on either side of the house that was to the left of where the boat was."

Fuller said his team was within sight of the boat, and they later assisted a team caught in the crossfire that was taking cover in a nearby garage.

"We assisted getting them out and extracting them," he said. "They were hunkered down in a garage in the backyard where part of my team was positioned so we had to get them out of there. There was a wire fence so we cut it and guided them out into a safe area and away from the crossfire."

Capturing the Bombing Suspect

Fuller explained how he heard some dialogue between the negotiator and the suspect, Dzokhar Tsarnaev, in the boat. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed earlier during a shoot-out in Watertown.

"After they took him into custody, they started medical care and then wisked him out in an ambulance," he said.

. The bombing suspects also allegedly killed MIT Officer Sean Collier in Cambridge.

Fuller praised the effort by all the law enforcement agencies involved with the manhunt.

"I thought that it was definitely a very good job done through the effort of all law enforcement that was there and there certainly was a lot of law enforcement there," he said. "It was a good feeling that he was caught and no longer out and about with the potential of causing any more damage or having the ability to hurt any more people.

"When you reflect on what the other officers had to deal with, like with the MIT Officer (Sean Collier) and the Watertown officers and any other law enforcement that was involved in the shoot-out prior to the suspect getting into the boat, it was just good knowing he had been taken into custody."

Bad News Hits Home

Fuller said that he learned about fellow Winchester Police Officer Ed Donohue's brother, Winchester native and MBTA Officer Richard Donohue Jr., getting shot during a shoot-out in Watertown.

"Before we go on a callout, we notify the station to let them know we received a callout and then we are on our way to our destination," Fuller recalled. "So that particular morning I learned from a dispatcher who I called into and told her we were going on a callout and she said 'You know, that is Eddie's brother that got shot.'

"In the past I have known other officers who were shot from other departments, such as Woburn, but in this particular case it was even closer to home and it has affected your agency."

Albertelli, who does not know Richard Donohue Jr. personally, said he had some concern about Ed and making sure he got whatever he needed.

"I think I felt like everybody else in the country. It did not make any sense at the time and it still does not," Albertelli said, referring to Ed's brother being shot. 

Richard Donohue Jr. is currently being treated at Mt. Auburn Hospital after being shot in the thigh during a shoot-out with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects. Watertown Fire Department helped save Donohue Jr.'s life at the scene.