Police shooting of Roxbury man justified, DA says

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley announced yesterday that investigators have concluded that the two Boston police officers who fatally shot a Roxbury man this summer were justified in their use of force and said that additional inquiries made at the request of the man's family only strengthened that conclusion.

Last month, Conley's office released a summary of the five-month investigation, which concluded that the officers should not be criminally charged in the death of Bert W. Bowen, but postponed releasing the full report after family members and community leaders raised concerns.

The June 27 shooting angered some community activists because Bowen, 40, was shot three times while fleeing after a traffic stop, and because some witnesses said he was unarmed.

The investigation concluded that Bowen was carrying a loaded handgun and that when the officers fired at Bowen they legitimately feared that he would kill one of them or a bystander. The two officers, Brian Smigielski and James Sheehan, knew Bowen had a record of violent offenses, the inquiry found.

Over the past month, Conley said, investigators sent the gun and ammunition found near Bowen's body to the State Police for additional fingerprint tests. It's unclear why those tests found no latent prints. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives also traced the semiautomatic handgun to Mississippi and determined it was stolen. Conley said the agency and Boston Police are investigating how the gun reached Boston.

Investigators also allowed a medical examiner retained by Bowen's family to review the state medical examiner's findings, which concluded the fatal shot traveled from right to left before striking his head and did not enter from the back as had been rumored. Investigators also tried to interview additional witnesses suggested by the man's family, Conley said. ''We're very secure in our findings today that the officers were justified," Conley said.

But the extra work authorities say they have done to determine how Bowen died didn't satisfy his widow, Dorothy, her lawyer, Earl Howard, or Leonard Alkins, the head of the Boston branch of the NAACP. ''I think there's a breakdown in communication and because of the breakdown in communication they are making a decision based on incomplete information," Alkins said.

Howard said that he has repeatedly requested documentation of key evidence but that Conley's office has refused to supply any, or to return his phone calls. ''I clearly was ignored, period," Howard said. ''I've requested a wide range of things, starting with crime scene videos; autopsy reports; and diagrams; various tape recordings of witness statements, a huge list of things."

In an interview last night, Conley said his office received only one letter from Howard: ''Much of what he requested by way of materials he was not entitled to prior to the closing of the investigation."

Howard also said he has spoken with at least one witness to Bowen's shooting whose account differs from the police version. But because police have not told Howard the names of witnesses they have interviewed, Howard said, he is unable to determine why the witness accounts are inconsistent.

Howard would not specify the details of the witness' conflictingaccount.

Conley said that Howard did not name his witness in the letter he sent to authorities.

''Who are these people?" Conley said, adding that ''if there is another person out there who saw some part or all of that incident, that person has not made themselves available to the police."

Jorge Martinez, executive director of Project Right, a Roxbury-based nonprofit community outreach organization, said he believes authorities have been thorough. ''They've been pretty good at transparency," Martinez said. ''Just take into account they sent it (the gun) out to another lab. The Boston Police Department folks have come a long way when it comes to community policing. Their way of doing business with the community has dramatically changed."

Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com.