9 officers being treated for trauma, minor injuries after East Boston 'gun fight'

BOSTON — Authorities say nine officers were being treated for minor injuries, stress and trauma after a shootout left two Boston police officers wounded and a suspect dead.

"There is no question many of the officers involved acted heroically, to confront a deadly gunmen," said Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said at a news conference early Thursday morning that officers were responding to a report of a person with a gun just after 11 p.m. Wednesday in East Boston when they came under fire.

Two officers went into the home and within 15 minutes, the suspect started firing at them, said police. After hearing gunshots, other officers outside ran in and found Officer Matt Morris and Officer Richard Cintolo shot.

Evans said the other officers began exchanging fire with the suspect. Other officers pulled Morris and Cintolo out of the line of fire and began life-saving first aid.

Morris and Cintolo are in critical condition. Nine other officers were being treated at Tufts Medical Center, and Evans said they were pretty shaken up.

Besides the physical trauma, there is also emotional trauma.

"Every time there's a traumatic event or a critical incident, it's like a brick in a backpack…so as these bricks add up, eventually that backpack is going to pull you down," said Deputy Superintendent with the Cambridge Police Paul Ames.

The Cambridge Police Department recently introduced new training for officers that teaches them how to cope. Ames said that departments are responsible for supporting officers that were on the scene and giving them the mental support they need.

"You just tell them you're going to feel anxiety, you might have a sleepless night," he told FOX25.

It can also affect other people in the department, too, who weren't at the scene.

Ames says that giving support to officers is important because it can affect them in the field.

"If we have an officer that's trauma affected or affected by trauma and he goes out and deals with someone that's also trauma affected…that's when we have negative outcomes," he said.

Cambridge Police also spearheaded another program with seven other police departments.

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