Fatal Shooting of 2 Black People in Massachusetts Being Investigated as a Hate Crime

A tragedy occurred in Winthrop, Mass., on Saturday when a man and woman, both Black, were fatally shot by a white man who stole a plumber’s truck and crashed it into a house. Officials are now investigating the shooting as a hate crime after discovering white nationalist rhetoric allegedly written by the assailant.

According to NBC News, the suspected shooter has been identified as 28-year-old Nathan Allen. Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said in a press conference on Sunday that investigators had discovered Allen had allegedly written “anti-semitic and racist statements against Black individuals.” While Rollins didn’t disclose where they found the writings, she said in a statement that they found swastikas drawn by Allen and statements about how white people are “apex predators.”

Allen allegedly stole a plumber’s truck on Saturday, crashed into a car with two passengers, before crashing the truck into an empty home. The two victims in the car accident were taken to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries. After the crash, Allen was fleeing on foot when he fatally shot 58-year-old David Green, a retired Massachusetts State Police officer; and 60-year-old Ramona Cooper, an Air Force veteran. Allen shot Green seven times and Cooper three times.

Allen was killed on the scene by Winthrop Police shortly after crashing the car into the house. A Winthrop police department statement said an officer was hospitalized “but not seriously injured” as a result of the incident.

“He walked by several people that were not Black and they are alive. They were not harmed,” Rollins said during the conference. “They are alive and these two visible people of color are not.” She added that investigators are working to determine the shooting and the chaos Allen caused leading up to it.

“They fought for us to be safe, to have the opinions that we have — and they were executed,” Rollins said during the conference. “These families deserve answers, and we will find out what happened here.”