Police were hunting last night for a presumed armed-and-dangerous suspect who bolted after two veteran plainclothes cops were shot and a violent con was killed in a broad-daylight gunfight in Dorchester that sent pedestrians fleeing into stores and ducking into doorways for cover.
Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis identified the dead suspect as Roudy Hendricks, 21, of Brockton, who he said has a "lengthy and violent" criminal record. Davis identified the officers as 24-year veteran Harry Jean and 25-year veteran Terry Cotton. Their injuries are not life-threatening; one officer was hit in the leg, the other grazed.
"This is the second time in a week or so that we've had officers violently attacked by individuals who have no regard for the officers' safety, and I think it's a troubling trend," Davis said, referencing the shooting of a Middlesex sheriff's deputy last week at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. "But the officers are trained well and all indications are they did exactly what they are supposed to do when they are attacked like this."
Police said Jean and Cotton were running surveillance in an unrelated matter about 2 p.m. when they spotted Hendricks and the other suspect at Dorchester Avenue and Shepton Street. When the officers approached the men, Hendricks opened fire, and the other suspect "started to move his clothing as if he had a gun," Davis said. It was not clear whether that second suspect had a gun, but police are assuming he does.
Davis did not explain why the officers approached the men, saying only that it is under investigation and that "something about the two suspects drew their attention." Police earlier described the suspects as being in a "confrontation."
Hendricks' record includes a June 2010 bust for gun possession, but police last night provided no further details of his record. The other suspect was described as a light-complected black man with braided hair, wearing a striped maroon shirt. He was last seen running down St. Marks Road, Davis said. Cops rushed to the scene and set up a perimeter.
"We did all we could to try to secure this individual, as you can imagine. But we were unable to catch him," Davis said.
Witnesses to the gunfight described a chaotic scene. Chris Fall said he was on his way to the pharmacy and waiting at a traffic light when he and a pal heard about 20 shots. Some struck a furniture truck, Fall said, and a nearby construction crew hit the ground and ran around the corner to take cover.
"You could hear them hitting the poles," he said of the gunshots. "People were running all over the place,"
A construction worker said he heard what he thought was an accident, ran toward the noise to help, then saw a man kneeling behind a black car, with a gun drawn.
"I figured I would go down and help," said the construction worker, who declined to give his name. "Good thing I didn't go too far."
The construction worker said he heard six to seven gunshots, then saw the kneeling man turn as if he'd been struck in the leg.
Another witness, Darnell Bishop, said he was sitting in his house when he heard gunfire. "It sounded like about 14 or 15 shots," he said, adding that he ran outside and saw a woman scurry into a liquor store.
Copyright 2013 - Boston Herald
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
