Carjacking leaves civilian, retired cop dead during possible hate crime in Massachusetts

Three people, including the suspect, are dead after a carjacking and possible hate crime in Massachusetts on June 26.

The other victims were a woman and a retired state trooper, who were both Black, and authorities say they found evidence the suspect promoted white supremacy.

Winthrop Police Chief Terence Delehanty reported Winthrop police, the Massachusetts State Police and the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office are investigating multiple fatal shootings after an allegedly stolen work van crashed into a home in a residential neighborhood about six miles north of Boston.

Winthrop police responded to the intersection of Shirley and Cross streets around 2:45 p.m., where a box truck crashed into a home.

Police also received simultaneous reports of shots fired.

Investigators determined a man allegedly stole a box truck owned by a plumbing and drain company, and then crashed into a residential building on Veterans Road.

After the crash, the suspect — later identified as 28-year-old Nathan Allen of Winthrop, Massachusetts — reportedly ran from the wreck and tried another carjacking, according to Winthrop police. 

Police said Allen was armed with multiple weapons and shot the driver of the car he attempted to stop. He then gave up and made a run for it. Winthrop authorities say a witness tried to stop Allen, who shot the witness during a struggle.

The witness and the driver both died from their respective gunshot wounds.

Officers reportedly caught up with Allen a short distance from the scene of the crash, and Delehanty confirmed that at least one Winthrop police officer fired his gun, hitting Allen.

Allen was transported to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The driver was identified as Ramona Cooper and she was transported to the hospital, where she died from her injuries. The witness was David L. Green, a retired Massachusetts State Police trooper. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

The officer who shot the suspect was taken to an area hospital for an evaluation but was not seriously injured, according to Winthrop police. The officer will reportedly be placed on administrative leave, as is standard procedure, during the investigation.

“We at the Massachusetts State Police are also mourning the loss of a member of our family. The victim who was murdered outside his Beach Road home, David L. Green, was a retired MSP Trooper who had an honorable 36-year career in law enforcement," Massachusetts State Police Colonel Christopher Mason said in a statement.

“David Green became a Metropolitan District Commission Police Officer in 1980. He became a Massachusetts State Trooper 12 years later when the MDC Police were merged into the MSP. He spent much of his MSP career assigned to the State Police-Boston Barracks at Leverett Circle."

Green retired on Dec. 31, 2016.

“Trooper Green was widely respected and well-liked by his fellow Troopers, several of whom yesterday described him as a “true gentleman” and always courteous to the public and meticulous in his duties. From what we learned yesterday, he was held in equally-high regard by his neighbors and friends in Winthrop."

Cooper was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and served as a staff sergeant, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

Investigators have also found evidence the shooter wrote about "the superiority of the white race" and other similar rhetoric, according to the district attorney's office. Both victims were Black.

“This shooter was married and employed. He had a Ph.D. and no criminal history. To all external sources he likely appeared unassuming," the district attorney's office noted. "And then, yesterday afternoon he stole a box truck, crashed it into another vehicle and a property, walked away from the wreckage interacting with multiple individuals and choosing only to shoot and kill the two Black people he encountered."