< Back to front page Text size – +

State Police shoot man to death in New Bedford drug raid

E-mail|Link|Comments () November 5, 2009 07:00 PM

Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Officers conferred today outside the house where the shooting took place.

By John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

State Police killed a New Bedford man during a drug raid this morning after a trooper wearing body armor was hit in the chest during a gunfight, a State Police spokesman said.

The trooper did not suffer any apparent injuries because "the body armor absorbed the impact of the bullet," said David Procopio, the State Police spokesman. After the trooper was struck by a bullet, however, other members of a State Police tactical team opened fire and killed Thomas Garnett, 32, the apparent shooter.

The gunfight erupted when troopers tried to execute a "knock and announce" search warrant at an apartment on Shawmut Avenue that was the home of the target of a drug investigation. Police said the dead man was the man under investigation. A weapon was found inside the apartment, but Procopio declined to describe it.

"I heard a shot early this morning, right after 6 o'clock," said Lylia Cambra, 87, who lives across the street. "To me it didn’t even sound like a shot. I just heard a bang, bang and that was it."

The property manager of 21 Shawmut Ave., Judith McMullen, said the tenant who was killed moved in at the beginning of the summer and lived with his girlfriend and a small child with special needs. Authorities said that the woman and child were home at the time of the shooting. In a telephone interview, McMullen described them as "family-oriented people" in their late 20s or early 30s.

"I'm really shocked there's anything like this," McMullen said, adding that she never had any problems with them. "Very quiet, and that’s not usually the case if drugs are involved."

The dead man had become the focus of drug investigation by the office of Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter. Troopers assigned to Sutter's office went at about 6 a.m. to the apartment in the two-family home. Investigators determined that the man was known to have firearms, so department protocol required the help of a STOP, or State Police Special Weapons and Tactics, team, Procopio said.

The search warrant required troopers to knock on the door and announce themselves before they could enter.

"As they approached the interior door, multiple gunshots were suddenly fired at them through the wall from inside the apartment,'' Procopio said, adding, "striking one of them in the chest."

The specially trained troopers in body armor and holding shields pushed forward into the apartment. Still under fire and "fearing for the safety of the team, a trooper or troopers discharged their weapons," Procopio said. "As a result of that, a male occupant was shot and suffered fatal injuries."

Normally, the Bristol district attorney's office would investigate any police-involved shooting in the county. However, because the Bristol district attorney's office was involved in the drug investigation, the shooting will be reviewed by the office of Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz, Procopio said.

At a press conference on Shawmut Avenue this afternoon, Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter called for stricter laws that would allow prosecutors to detain suspects before trial when illegal guns are involved in criminal cases.

"We have a situation where a state trooper was struck by gunfire. Thankfully, he is safe and sound because he wore a vest," Sutter said. "We have a situation where, in the midst of the gunfire, a woman and child were in the home.

"If ever there has been an event in recent Bristol County history that captures the need for a change in law enforcement’s battle against illegal gun violence, this event captures it."

Globe correspondents Jack Nicas and John Guilfoil contributed to this report.