On Saturday, 28-year-old Nathan Allen stole a box truck in Winthrop, crashed it into a house, and killed retired state trooper David L. Green and Air Force veteran Ramona Cooper, both of whom were Black, before Allen himself was shot and killed by police.
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins said the events are being investigated as a hate crime. Allen passed several other people after the crash who were not Black and did not harm them, Rollins said. Authorities are reviewing writings by Allen that included white supremacist and antisemitic statements.
Here is what we know happened, turn by turn, during Allen’s rampage, which, all told, only lasted about 15 minutes.
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1. Allen steals box truck on Argyle Street
Armed with at least two guns, Allen broke into a white box truck on Argyle Street in Winthrop. The truck belonged to Rapid Flow, Inc., a sewer and drain cleaning business, and it remains unclear how Allen was able to start it and then drive through a metal gate onto the road.
He drove down Revere Street, one of the town’s main drags, and then took a left onto Shirley Street, a narrow side road.
Allen’s exact movements prior to stealing the truck from Argyle Street, a short side road filled with auto repair shops, are unknown, but he lived only a few blocks away.
2. Truck crashes into home
Allen, driving fast down the middle of the tight street, lost control of the truck: After hitting an SUV head on, Allen slammed the truck into a squat brick home. The SUV ended up crashing into a nearby fence. Neighbors reported pulling three women out of the passenger vehicles when they heard gunshots.
Photos of the crash site:
3. Allen jumps into nearby car
After the crash, Allen got out of the truck and began to walk down Shirley Street. He then jumped into another man’s car.
The car’s driver, Paulo Correia, told the Globe that the suspect approached his vehicle and climbed into the back seat.
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“I thought he was just trying to get some help for himself,” said Correia. When Allen told him to drive, Correia said he “told him to get out of my car...twice.” Shockingly, Allen did.
4. First victim shot
Allen got out of the car and shot 60-year-old Air Force veteran Ramona Cooper.
“I saw him shoot someone in my rearview mirror,” Correia said. He saw Cooper lying in the middle of street near an auto repair shop.
Cooper later died at the hospital.
5. Second victim shot
Victim David Green and his neighbor Bill Leach were walking from their homes on nearby Beach Street toward the noise on Shirley Street. When they saw Allen with a gun, Leach said Green pulled him into an alley to hide. Another neighbor saw Allen cut across the parking lot of the auto repair shop.
Allen shot and killed Green down the alleyway. The graphic above shows a possible path Allen took to reach one of the multiple entrances to the alley.
6. Gunman shot by police
After shooting Green, Allen was instructed by a police officer to drop his weapon, said neighbor Kim Carrillo, who had been hiding nearby and said she witnessed the exchange. But the gunman kept fiddling with his firearm, she said.
“Bang, he shot him,” Carrillo said of the officer. “The kid went down right here.”
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Material for this report came from extensive Globe reporting:
How a violent rampage in Winthrop left two dead and a city reeling
Three people were fatally shot Saturday afternoon in a ‘chaotic’ scene in Winthrop
DA Rollins says Winthrop gunman had hate in his heart
Heather Ciras can be reached at heather.ciras@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @heatherciras. Daigo Fujiwara can be reached at daigo.fujiwara@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @DaigoFuji. Hanna Krueger can be reached at hanna.krueger@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @hannaskrueger. John Hancock can be reached at john.hancock@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Hancock_JohnD.