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Mass. State Police still searching for suspect who shot on-duty trooper in Hyannis

HYANNIS, Mass. — An investigation is underway after a Massachusetts State Police trooper was shot late Friday night. State Police said the trooper’s injuries are not life-threatening.

According to Massachusetts State Police, the trooper, 28, was shot after stopping a car on Camp Street in Hyannis shortly after 11:30 p.m.

The trooper suffered a gunshot wound to his right hand. The bullet went through his hand and then struck the ballistic vest on the trooper’s shoulder, police said.

Police added that another trooper, Timothy Shields, took the victim to Cape Cod Hospital. The trooper was later transferred to Mass. General Hospital in Boston where he remains as of Saturday.

Investigators said the suspect drove away after the shooting; a search is ongoing for the occupant or occupants of the vehicle.

Police have not released the name of the injured trooper but said he is assigned to the State Police Yarmouth Barracks. Barnstable Police are assisting State Police with the investigation.

“First and foremost, I commend our Trooper who suffered a serious injury in the performance of his duty, and his classmate and barracks-mate, Trooper Shields, who took quick and decisive action to get his wounded brother Trooper to the emergency room immediately,” said Colonel Christopher Mason, the superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police.

“Both Troopers remained calm and composed in a highly stressful situation, and both did what they had to do without delay — behavior that speaks volumes about their character, courage, and the quality of their training at the State Police Academy. We are grateful that the outcome was not worse.”

State Representative Timothy Whelan formerly worked as a law enforcement officer at the South Yarmouth barracks, where the injured Trooper is based out of.

“It hits especially close to home,” he said Saturday. “The location of the shooting is an area that I know well, and I’ve stopped cars there myself. And also, I have many, many dear friends that still work out of that barracks.”

Rep. Whelan said Saturday that, during his 26-year career, he luckily was never directly exposed to gunfire on the job.

He praised State Police for their training for incidents like this.

“I think this is a testament to the excellence of the training that State Police provides to their recruits when they go through training,” he explained. “Here’s a trooper who is fresh out of the academy, and he and the trooper that arrived to help him out immediately were able to take the actions that they needed to preserve life and preserve evidence.”

Rep. Whelan stopped off at the South Yarmouth barracks on Saturday morning to drop off meals and express his gratitude to those working the case.

He told Boston 25 News that he hopes the state will move faster on a deal that would provide all State Troopers with body cameras.

“I believe that, in this case, it would certainly help with the prosecution and it would certainly help with the identification in exactly who it was that fired the round,” he said. “That’s going to be something I’m going to be looking forward to advocating for over the next several months, is to make sure that the state steps up, and that the state comes to an agreement with the State Police Union, and that they get body-worn cameras assigned to every trooper.”

According to the Yarmouth Police Department’s Facebook Page, this is the fourth officer shot on Cape Cod in the past two-and-a-half years.

“I’m very hopeful that they catch this person quickly and safely and that no one else gets hurt,” Rep. Whelan said.

A GoFundMe has been organized to help the trooper. So far, more than $49,000 have been raised with a goal of $100,000.

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