PLYMOUTH (AP) – The police officers who shot and killed a Plymouth teenager early this year felt they had no choice but to open fire because they feared their lives were in danger as the teen’s car sped toward them, according to newly released reports.
“I observed the operator look directly at me as I approached,” Officer Richard Tavares wrote in a report about the Jan. 10 incident in which 16-year-old Anthony McGrath was fatally shot. “The Camry then accelerated towards me. Unsure of an escape route, and my ability to avoid being struck by the Camry a second time, I felt my life was again in danger.”
Tavares fired four shots at the vehicle, according to the report he filed 17 days later. Officer Edwin Almeida fired seven shots before McGrath’s car came to rest in a nearby yard.
A state police investigation determined that Tavares, 39, and Almeida, 50, were justified in shooting at McGrath, who had ignored repeated orders to stop.
The office of Plymouth District Attorney Timothy Cruz released Tavares’ report and other documents in response to a public records request by The Patriot Ledger of Quincy.
The incident began when Tavares and Almeida responded to an alarm at a liquor store at about 3:18 a.m. Almeida followed McGrath’s vehicle, which was coming from the direction of the store, and turned on his flashing lights, according to reports.
Instead of pulling over, McGrath led police on a pursuit that reached 60 to 70 mph and ended when he crashed into a stone wall.
Tavares and Almeida used their vehicles to box in McGrath’s car. Almeida got out of his cruiser and ordered McGrath to show his hands, according to reports.
Instead, Almeida wrote in his report, McGrath put the car in reverse, striking his cruiser before hitting a utility pole. It was then that the car allegedly accelerated toward Tavares.
“At this point, the Camry appeared to turn away from me, but towards Officer Almeida’s location to my right,” Tavares wrote.
Tavares fired and McGrath was killed by a bullet that punctured a lung and his heart. Once Tavares stopped firing, Almeida began. The officers then pulled McGrath from his vehicle and handcuffed him.
“As we handcuffed the operator, I continually asked “Are You Shot? … Where Are You Shot?” Tavares wrote. The officers administered first aid and applied pressure to McGrath’s wounds until paramedics arrived.
McGrath was pronounced dead at Jordan Hospital.
McGrath’s relatives have questioned whether the shooting was justified.
