District Attorney Rachael Rollins says she believes race was a motivating factor in the deaths of retired state trooper Dave Green and Air Force veteran Ramona Cooper, who are both Black.
Two Black people, an Air Force veteran and a retired Massachusetts state trooper, were shot dead after an intentional car crash near Boston over the weekend in what the district attorney is now calling an incident of “extremism and white supremacy,” according to a statement.
Dave Green, a 58-year-old retired Massachusetts State Police trooper, and Ramona Cooper, a 60-year-old staff sergeant in the Air Force who stayed involved in the military, were killed after a gunman slammed a stolen truck into a house and another vehicle in the Winthrop neighborhood and then shot them.
The gunman, 28-year-old Nathan Allan, was later killed by police, according to the Suffolk District Attorney.
All three dead are Winthrop residents.
“This is a sad day,” Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said, according to CBS News. “These two people protected our rights, they fought for us to be safe and to have the opinions that we have, and they were executed yesterday. And we will find out why and find out more about this man who did this.”
Rollins said in a published statement that an investigation is still underway, but “law enforcement has already unearthed troubling white supremacy rhetoric and statements written by the shooter. This individual wrote about the superiority of the white race. About whites being ‘apex predators.’ He drew swastikas.”
Additionally, authorities said following the crash, which police had initially believed to be a car accident, Allen had approached other potential victims, “choosing only to shoot and kill the two Black people he encountered,” Rollins said.
Cooper ended up shot in the back several times, and Green was shot in the head, neck and torso, the statement said.
The gunman “appeared unassuming,” Rollins said, adding that he was married, employed, had a Ph.D and no criminal history. He was also licensed to carry a firearm.
