End Of Watch: Officer Sean Collier, MIT Police Department, Massachusetts April 18, 2013

Congratulations to the officers of the Boston Police, the Suffolk County police, the Massachusetts State Police, the FBI, and any others participating in the capture of the last remaining (known) Boston Marathon bombing suspect.  I am also thankful that no more officers lost their lives chasing these criminals. 

The officer that lost his life last night was a young man, no older than my own son, and had been a sworn officer less than two years.  He was shot while seated in his car, and probably while talking to the shooter, or possibly the shooter shot from some unknown location as Officer Sean Collier drove through the streets and parking lots of MIT.  Perhaps Officer Collier tried to talk to the shooter rather than drawing his gun, trying to lean more about the person before confronting him with lethal force.  In any case, my heart goes out to this young man's family and to his fellow officers.  The senseless killing of this officer was even more so because the suspect, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, knew that he had zero chance of escaping Boston/Suffolk County unseen. 

I am thankful to Officer Sean Collier for his service to his fellow men.  Officer Collier made the ultimate sacrifice, but in so doing, the suspect's position was exposed, police converged, and eventually the suspect was apprehended with no more bloodshed.  I normally do not recognize out-of-state officers in my blog as this is done by others in those other states; however, I am honored to name Sean Collier in this simple post.  You see, he continued doing his job even though he knew that he faced more than just the danger of being shot.  He and the other officers also knew that the Tsarnaev brothers had explosives with them during their run from police, and that the two brothers also could have had suicide bombs wired to their bodies so that they could kill many more officers when they were finally captured.  Fortunately, that did not happen.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/21777-police-officer-sean-collier

Officer Collier, I honor you for your sacrifice, and I know that you are now with that Thin Blue Line that stands forever in the Light and Comfort of the Good Shepherd.