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State trooper charged for shooting ATV driver in 2018 Expressway melee

A state trooper who was part of a highway-shutting blockade to corral stunting dirt bikers and ATV riders on I-93 last year now faces felony charges for shooting one of them in the foot with a rifle.

A Suffolk County grand jury today indicted Trooper Matthew Sheehan on charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and assault with a dangerous weapon for his actions on Feb. 24, 2018 at the Massachusetts Avenue exit, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.

During the course of an extensive investigation, Suffolk County prosecutors and State Police detectives assigned to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office determined Trooper Sheehan fired two rounds. One of the bullets entered the side of the ATV’s tire, not the front. The angle at which the bullet struck the tire indicates the ATV was parallel to Trooper Sheehan, not heading towards him, thus not presenting the imminent danger that would permit the use potentially deadly force in self-defense.

According to the DA's office, of the 13 troopers and police officers on the highway trying to block in stunters "operating in a reckless manner," only Sheehan got out a semi-automatic rifle rather than relying on his service gun.

The DA's office says that Sheehan is scheduled for arraignment in Suffolk Superior Court on Oct. 10.

The office adds that eight people were arrested that day.

Innocent, etc.

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PDF icon Complete statement by Suffolk County DA144.52 KB


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Comments

Isn't this the same Statie who got busted for negatively posting online as "BigIrish"?

https://www.masslive.com/news/2018/03/massachusetts_state_police_sus_1.html

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This glove article about the overtime scandal says it’s the same trooper.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/03/12/state-police-troopers-earne...

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The Glove's heeyah!

The Glove's heeyah!

They should rename the paypah!

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Do they have more than the direction of the tire, as quoted above??

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Look for the link at the bottom of it.

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Thank you!!

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MA state troopers and atv/dirt bike riders are two of the absolute worst groups of criminals in the state so this story has kind of a happy ending.

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protecting the rest of us. These idiots riding dirt bikes and atv's on the roadways posed an imminent danger to everyone else on the roads. If the police hadn't intervened, the idiots could have caused an accident that killed people.

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The twelve other cops were doing their jobs. This cop decided he was going to grab his rifle rather than his pistol. This cop decided he was going to shoot when every other cop did not.

Cops can not shoot just for committing a crime, it has to be in self-defense or in defense of others.

Plus, this cop was already suspended for racist social media posts. We shouldn't feel obligated to jump to the side of a bad cop, a grand jury already decided to go forward with this indictment.

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Based on the facts as I am reading here in this blog, if information provided is true and this is the same Trooper that was caught up in a racist scandal; could we connect all his actions he had in life and with the public was motivated by racist intents. And if his actions are based or racially motivated intents; shouldn't he be brought up on civil rights charges for the highway shooting. He wasn't in a mountain shooting deer with a rifle, he shot a human being , who happens to be a person of color by the way ; like it was target practices. I don't know what the scene looks like on that Highway but I certainly know from the video, there were far many people and fellow officers out there to be shooting with a rifle.

I was under the impression once you are found to be a racist all your actions in life are racially motivated. I don't know I can be wrong I'm not perfect.

I hope his behaviors are not generational.

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Not taking a side here, but couldn't the bullet have struck the side of the tire from the rider turning the wheel at the last second?

That seems to be the main piece of evidence in the indictment statement, could be a bit thin, no matter what this dummy was posting online.

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The conclusion based on all the facts in evidence. There was more than ballistics. there was video and audio records. The judgement was that the situation did not justify deadly force.

This summary doesn't even say which tire was struck but you assumed it was a front tire.

I hate these things as much as anyone, but shooting at them is not justified.

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He shot a person not a "thing".

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I meant to say I hate mini motor cycles and atv's as much as anyone, but that does not justify shooting at the rider.

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