Horror and Heroism: Timeline of East Boston Police Shooting

BOSTON, MA — For 27 years, Officer Richard Cintolo went to work and came home. For 12 years, Officer Matt Morris did the same. But at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night, their families received the call they had feared all those years: Neither officer would make it home that night.

Both men were shot in an East Boston firefight and remain hospitalized as of Thursday afternoon — alive thanks to the fearless actions of their fellow officers. As Mayor Marty Walsh said, the incident illustrates the kinds of situations officers confront every day but the public usually never hears about.

"This situation could happen any day," Walsh said in a radio interview. "In Boston, it happened yesterday."

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans commended his officers for "courage and bravery," and detailed the timeline of the incident.

Patch has reproduced that timeline below, based on information provided by the commissioner and in previous reports from police as the incident unfolded.

Latest: Officers in Critical Condition, But Recovering

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Around 10:51 p.m. Wednesday, East Boston officers, including Cintolo and Morris, responded to a reported domestic dispute at 136 Gladstone St. in Orient Heights. A man met officers at the door, and told them his roommate pulled a large knife on him. The officers went inside to investigate, where they were met by Kirk Figueroa, who began firing on them using what appeared to be a tactical shotgun.

Cintolo was struck at least twice, and another bullet tore through Morris's leg, severing a main artery.

Upon hearing the gunfire, their fellow officers ran inside without hesitation, Evans said.

"I've got to commend the officers for rushing into that building with no fear whatsoever to rescue two fellow officers," he said.

The officers in the building fatally shot Figueroa, while others moved Cintolo and Morris outside and away from the line of fire.

An unidentified SWAT officer put his hand into Morris's wound to stop the bleeding and applied a tourniquet.

If it had been more than three years earlier, Morris might be dead. Evans said the department didn't require officers to carry tourniquets until after the Boston Marathon bombing. What's more, he said, the officer in question had undergone additional training on using it less than one week earlier.

"You talk about a coincidence really paying off for us," Evans said, of the timing.

Cintolo and Morris were rushed to Mass. General Hospital, where they underwent surgery early Thursday morning. Although officers were mostly sedated, Evans said and Walsh visited them at MGH following the surgery.

According to Evans, Morris knew exactly what kind of danger he was in.

"I talked with Officer Morris, who clearly said to me, 'I want to thank [this particular officer,] he saved my life,'" Evans said. "He knew how close he was to death."

Nine other officers were taken from the scene to Tufts Medical Center, treated there for minor injuries and trauma.

"They were pretty [shaken] up," Evans said, "That's a tough part of our job."

Mayor Marty Walsh told Boston Herald radio he spoke to one of the officers who was experiencing trauma in the aftermath of the shooting.

"He saw his brother officers be shot; he saw a very difficult situation," Walsh said. "He told me, 'I wish we could just work with each other and get along. This is not right.'"

Cintollo and Morris remain in critical condition as they recover from surgery, and police are hopeful they will make a fully recovery.

Photo by Alison Bauter, Patch staff