Officers cleared in shooting of Juston Root
The Boston police officers involved in the shooting that injured Juston Root outside Brigham and Women’s Hospital, before he sped away and was later killed by other officers, should not face charges for the initial officer-involved non-fatal shooting.
That’s according to a Suffolk County special assistant district attorney, who conducted an independent review of the non-fatal shooting of the 41-year-old Mattapan man from Feb. 7, 2020.
Boston police officers responded to the hospital at around 9:20 a.m. that day after hospital security personnel reported a person with a gun. When the first officer David Godin arrived, Root pointed what appeared to be a gun at the officer and advanced toward him, according to police.
Godin fired several shots at Root, and then a second officer Michael St. Peter also fired several shots at Root. One of the shots appeared to strike Root, who then limped to his vehicle and fled the scene.
Root was later fatally shot by police officers in Brookline’s Chestnut Hill, which is in Norfolk County, following a car chase. Officers fired 31 shots, and Root was struck 26 times.
For the initial Suffolk County non-fatal shooting of Root, the Suffolk DA’s Office launched an investigation to determine if the officers firing shots outside the hospital at Fenwood Road and Vining Street was a “justifiable use of potentially deadly force or violated the law and whether charges should be sought.”
Special Assistant District Attorney John Dawley wrote in his findings, “This investigation has determined that the evidence does not support charging violations of the law… we conclude that neither of the involved officers’ actions were objectively unreasonable.”
“Accordingly, it is not appropriate to charge and the investigation should be closed without prosecution,” the special ADA added.
Also during the non-fatal shooting of Root, a bullet fired by the officers traveled up the street and hit a hospital valet in the head. The valet Justin Desmarais was struck in the eye, leaving bullet fragments in his brain.
Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden said he concurred with Dawley’s findings, reiterating that no criminal charges are warranted for the involved officers.
“These cases are always difficult and always tragic, both for the families of the wounded or deceased and for the officers involved,” Hayden said in a statement. “I thank Special ADA Dawley for his thorough investigation into all of the factors involved in this tragic incident.”
The fatal shooting on Route 9 in Brookline, in Norfolk County, involved six Boston Police officers and Massachusetts State Police troopers. The Norfolk DA’s Office cleared the six officers involved in the shooting, ruling that their use of deadly force was justified.