By Luis Fieldman
Source masslive.com
An off-duty police officer shot and killed a man wielding a knife inside a Chick-fil-A in Boston’s Copley Square on Saturday evening, authorities said during a press conference.
At about 5:27 p.m., two individuals ran inside the restaurant at 569 Boylston St. and were being chased by a man with a knife, according to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox.
The man attempted to stab the two individuals and an off-duty police officer identified himself and told the man to drop the weapon, but he did not, Cox said.
The officer shot and struck the man who was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, Cox said.
“This is a pretty tragic incident,” Cox said. “Our condolences go to the individual who was killed tonight. We are proud of our officers who activate themselves — whether it’s on duty or off duty — to try to save lives."
The off-duty officer was also brought to the hospital for evaluation but without any reported injuries, Cox said.
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden and Mayor Michelle Wu joined the police commissioner at the press conference Saturday evening.
Hayden said his office’s homicide unit will “direct and control” the investigation. He said many witnesses are cooperating with the investigation and that a large amount of video evidence was being reviewed.
There are other individuals “who were here who know something, who witnessed something, who may have been involved, and we ask them to step forward,” he said.
“We need the help of everybody that knows anything about what happened here if we are to get to the bottom of it, if we are going to get to the truth, and if we are going to get to an understanding of what happened in this very chaotic situation,” Hayden said.
Wu and Hayden both shared their condolences for the family of the man killed.
“I’m also thinking of all the people who were impacted here today in one of the busier parts of the city with this tragedy,” Wu said.
There are trauma support services available to people affected by the incident, she said.
While not a lot of information was shared at the press conference about the individuals involved in the incident, Hayden said “They were young people as far as we know.”
___________
©2025 Advance Local Media LLC.
Visit masslive.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
