Sunday marks the somber anniversary of a deadly shooting in Winthrop that claimed the lives of a retired Massachusetts State Police trooper and a US Air Force veteran.Retired Trooper David Green, 68, and USAF Staff Sgt. Ramona Cooper, 60, were both fatally shot on June 26, 2021. Authorities said the shootings happened after 28-year-old Nathan Allen, of Winthrop, crashed a stolen work truck into an unoccupied building. After the crash, authorities said Allen exited the vehicle and proceeded to flee on foot. At some point shortly thereafter, Allen is believed to have shot Cooper and Green. Green was pronounced dead at the scene, while Cooper was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she was later pronounced dead. scene of the crash. Green, meanwhile, was engaged by Allen in an alleyway between two houses that was further down the street.According to then-Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, now the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Cooper was shot three times in the back and Green was shot four times in the head and three times in his torso. A longtime friend of Green’s told NewsCenter 5 last year that he had coffee with him that morning and that the retired trooper, who was also a military veteran, was sitting with friends when he heard the crash and decided to help.Witnesses said once Green realized Allen was armed, he tried to stop the gunman from hurting his friends and neighbors, ultimately losing his life in the process.For his heroics that day, Green was awarded the Massachusetts State Police Medal of Honor.“I want the public to realize that we need law enforcement, especially at this time in our nation, and just to support law enforcement,” said Ray Green, David Green’s brother.Acc Ordering to a neighbor, Cooper was working as a Veterans Affairs employee after retiring from active duty. On Sunday, two trees were planted on Shirley Street — one each at the sports where Green and Cooper were shot — in the victims’ memory.”Everyone has a little piece of him that they’ll always carry with them,” said Louise Corkhum , a friend of David Green. “Often, we use the expression when someone passes away: ‘What an incredible person they were.’ But, truly, (he was) an unsung hero.”Rollins also said the shootings were being investigated as possible hate crimes because Rollins said “troubling white supremacist rhetoric” in Allen’s handwriting was discovered by investigators. That handwriting contained anti-Semitic statements and racist statements against Black people, according to Rollins. … They are alive and these two visible people of color are not.”According to Rollins, Allen was traveling at a rate twice the speed limit in the stolen truck and was heading in the direction of Jewish temples.“We don’t know where he was going. That is mere speculation,” Rollins said. “We do know that he had anti-Semitic rhetoric written in his own hand.”Winthrop police later engaged Allen, who Delehanty said was armed with two weapons, and at least one officer, a Winthrop police sergeant, shot him at the intersection of Shirley Street and Veterans Road. Allen was transported to Mass General, where he died of his injuries. He’s a great police officer. He’s a great sergeant. He isolated a significant threat to this community and ended that threat,” Delehanty said last year.
Sunday marks the somber anniversary of a deadly shooting in Winthrop that claimed the lives of a retired Massachusetts State Police trooper and a US Air Force veteran.
Retired Trooper David Green, 68, and USAF Staff Sgt. Ramona Cooper, 60, was both fatally shot on June 26, 2021.
Authorities said the shootings happened after 28-year-old Nathan Allen, of Winthrop, crashed a stolen work truck into an unoccupied building.
After the crash, authorities said Allen exited the vehicle and proceeded to flee on foot. At some point shortly thereafter, Allen is believed to have shot Cooper and Green. Green was pronounced dead at the scene, while Cooper was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, where she was later pronounced dead.
Winthrop police Chief Terence Delehanty said Cooper was found by Winthrop police on Shirley Street, about a half-block away from the scene of the crash. Green, meanwhile, was engaged by Allen in an alleyway between two houses that was further down the street.
According to then-Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, now the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Cooper was shot three times in the back and Green was shot four times in the head and three times in his torso.
A longtime friend of Green’s told NewsCenter 5 last year that he had coffee with him that morning and that the retired trooper, who was also a military veteran, was sitting with friends when he heard the crash and decided to help.
Witnesses said once Green realized Allen was armed, he tried to stop the gunman from hurting his friends and neighbors, ultimately losing his life in the process.
For his heroics that day, Green was awarded the Massachusetts State Police Medal of Honor.
“I want the public to realize that we need law enforcement, especially at this time in our nation, and just to support law enforcement,” said Ray Green, David Green’s brother.
According to a neighbor, Cooper was working as a Veterans Affairs employee after retiring from active duty.
On Sunday, two trees were planted on Shirley Street—one each at the sports where Green and Cooper were shot—in the victims’ memory.
“Everyone has a little piece of him that they’ll always carry with them,” said Louise Corkhum, a friend of David Green. “Often, we use the expression when someone passes away: ‘What an incredible person they were.’ But, truly, (he was) an unsung hero.”
Rollins also said the shootings were being investigated as possible hate crimes because Rollins said “troubling white supremacist rhetoric” in Allen’s handwriting was discovered by investigators. That handwriting contained anti-Semitic statements and racist statements against Black people, according to Rollins.
“He walked by several other people that were not Black and they are alive,” Rollins said last year. “They were not harmed. … They are alive and these two visible people of color are not.”
According to Rollins, Allen was traveling at a rate twice the speed limit in the stolen truck and was heading in the direction of Jewish temples.
“We don’t know where he was going. That is mere speculation,” Rollins said. “We do know that he had anti-Semitic rhetoric written in his own hand.”
Winthrop police later engaged Allen, who Delehanty said was armed with two weapons, and at least one officer, a Winthrop police sergeant, shot him at the intersection of Shirley Street and Veterans Road. Allen was transported to Mass General, where he died of his injuries.
“It was extremely heroic. He’s a great police officer. He’s a great sergeant. He isolated a significant threat to this community and ended that threat,” Delehanty said last year.
The building that Allen crashed into was leveled and has since been torn down.
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