The man at the center of the shooting last month outside Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital that left a valet injured misled police at the scene, including claiming to an officer he also was with law enforcement before drawing what appeared to be a gun, prosecutors said Monday.
That man, Juston Root, was fatally shot by police after leading officers on a chase down Route 9 that ended in a wreck near Chestnut Hill. He reached 90 mph in the chase, Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey said in a report that found the shooting was justified.
Authorities had previously revealed that Root had brandished a weapon that was not a working firearm, and that the valet was shot by a Boston police officer. Monday's announcement offered new details into the incident, including the chaotic first moments after a hospital security guard told police that a man had flashed a gun at him over a request to move his car.
"I'm law enforcement, I'm law enforcement," Root shouted at one Boston police officer, whom he'd already sent driving around the hospital building in an apparent misdirection, Morrissey's report said.
But after yelling that he was also a member of law enforcement, Root pulled what appeared to be a gun from his waistband and aimed it at the officer, prompting a confrontation between the two that led to the officer firing his gun and a struggle between the pair on the ground, Morrissey said.
Another officer who had been with the first saw the struggle and, assuming the man he saw standing over a person on the ground was shooting at them, opened fire, according to Morrissey's report. Police later determined
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Root led police on a chase down Route 9 to the border of Newton and Brookline, near Chestnut Hill, that ended in a violent crash with several other vehicles. He escaped the wreck but, when confronted by several officers and told to surrender, was fatally shot.
According to Morrissey, Root's Chevrolet Volt managed to lose the chasing police cruisers as it weaved through traffic and reached 90 mph shortly before the wreck.
IMAGES: Police Respond to Shooting Near Boston Hospital
Officers' commands for Root to show his hands and lie down on the ground are heard on body camera footage and police radio transmissions and corroborated by bystanders. Several officers said they saw Root reach for what appeared to be a weapon in a holster on his shoulder, and a witness saw him reach inside his coat before the shooting as well.
Root was pronounced dead soon after the shooting, and his body was later found to have been 26 bullet wounds, according to Morrissey.
The weapon he had was a black, semi-automatic BB pistol, Morrissey said, Root's vehicle was also found with two paintball-firing guns.
The Brigham and Women's Hospital valet was shot in the eye and critically injured, but was later upgraded to good condition. His current condition is not known.
