'It's just very, very sad': Weymouth woman, 77, shot while sipping coffee

WEYMOUTH, Mass. — Just moments after a Weymouth police officer was killed Sunday, police say the suspect gunned down an elderly woman nearby.

Vera Adams, 77, was identified as the woman shot through the rear window of her home.

According to police, Adams was sitting in her sunroom enjoying coffee Sunday morning when Emanuel Lopes fired shots through a large picture window.

One of the shots hit Adams in the chest, killing her.

Adams was retired after working at an insurance company for several years. She lived alone, her husband passed away a few years ago, and she never had any children. Those who knew her called her the "fun aunt" and said she had a lot of friends.

Those friends, neighbors and even strangers stopped by Adams’ house all day Monday to leave flowers, to leave balloons or even simply to kneel and pray.

“Losing anyone in this town is like losing a family member,” George Camacho told Boston 25 News.

“It was so awful, to think of poor Vera just sitting there, it’s just very, very sad,” neighbor Maureen Carson said.

Sandra Boucher, the victim's sister-in-law, was in disbelief when she found out about what happened to Adams.

"I was watching the 6 o'clock news, and I saw the house and I said, 'That's my sister-in-law's house," Boucher said.

The Weymouth community has banded together after Officer Michael Chesna and Adams lost their lives Sunday morning.

Neighbors tell us at about the same time every morning, Adams would sit out in her sunroom, drink her coffee and watch the news.

“She was a private person, kept to herself,” Boucher told Boston 25 News. “She was just a great person, this is tragic.”

Boucher said Adams had just had surgery and she was finally on the mend and starting to be active again.

Now, Boucher is forced to hear about the suspect who shot and killed her sister-in-law, and she's questioning why he was free in the first place.

"I don’t want to hear about him," Boucher said. "He has a record as long as my arm they’re saying so why was he on the streets to do this terrible thing.”

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• Court docs: Man stood over Weymouth officer and shot him ten times
• 25 Investigates: Weymouth shooting suspect was out on bail after drug charges

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